An Irishman moves into a tiny hamlet in County Kerry , walks into the pub
and promptly orders three beers. The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves
the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone.

An hour later, the man has finished the three beers and orders three more...
This happens yet again. The next evening the man again orders and drinks
three beers at a time, several times. Soon the entire town is whispering
about the Man Who Orders Three Beers.

Finally, a week later, the bartender broaches the subject on behalf of the
town. "I don't mean to pry, but folks around here are wondering why you
always order three beers?"

"Tis odd, isn't it?" the man replies.  "You see, I have two brothers, and
one went to America , and the other to Australia . We promised each other
that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of
keeping up the family bond."

The bartender and the whole town were pleased with this answer, and soon
the Man Who Orders Three Beers became a local celebrity and source of pride to

the hamlet, even to the extent that out-of-towners would come to watch him
drink.

Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers.  The bartender
pours them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the evening...
He orders only two beers. The word flies around town.  Prayers are offered
for the soul of one of the brothers.  The next day, the bartender says to the man, "Folks
around here, me first of all, want to offer condolences to you for the death of
your brother. You know-the two beers and all.  The man ponders this for a moment,

then replies,"You'll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well.

It's just that I, meself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent."

 Happy St. Patricks day

Diana

For one thing, we shall get rid of that terrible sense of isolation we've always had. Almost without exception, alcohollics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were apt to be noisy good fellows craving attention and companionship, but never getting it- at least to our way of thinking. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand. It was as if we were actors on a stage, suddenly realizing that we did not know a single line of our parts. That's one reason we loved alcohol too well. It did let us act extemporaneously. But even Bacchus boomeranged on us; we were finally struck down and left in terrified loneliness.
When we reached AA, and for the first time in our lives stood among people who seemed to understand, the sense of belonging was tremendously exciting. We thought the isolation problem had been solved. But we soon discoverd that while we weren't alone any more in a social sense, we still suffered many of the old pangs of anxious apartness. Until we had talked with complete candor of our conflict, and listened to someone else do the same thing, we still didn't belong. Step Five was the answer. It was the beginning of true kinship with man and God.
12 and 12 /page 57
It seems as though I can almost remember the day."It was as if we were actors on a stage, suddenly realizing that we did not know a single line of our parts. That's one reason we loved alcohol too well. It did let us act extemporaneously. But even Bacchus boomeranged on us; we were finally struck down and left in terrified loneliness." It was the begining of the end (thank God). It seemed at the time that I was in Hell. It still amazes me how long I went on like that. I am so greatful I found the solution.

:) Diana

 This is an ancedote of the far west that carries a wonderful lesson. It appears that a party of hunters, being called away from their camp, left the campfire unattended, with a kettle of water boiling on it.

 Presently an old bear crept out of the woods, and seeing the kettle with its lid dancing about on top, promptly seized it. The boiliing water scalded him badly; but instead of dropping the kettle instantly, he proceeded to hug it tightly- this being a bear's idea of defense. Of course, the tighter he hugged it the more it burned him; and the more it burned him the tighter he hugged it; and so on in a vicious cycle, to the undoing of the bear.

 This illustrates  perfectly the way in chich many people hug thier difficulties to their bosoms by constantly rehearsing theim to themselves and others.

 Whenever you catch youself thinking about your grievances, say to yourself sternly: "Bear hugs kettle," and think about God instead. You will be suprised how quickly some long-standing wounds will heal.

   Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord....( psalm 25:15)

from Around the year with Emmot Fox- Febuary 23

I cannot tell you how many times in early sobriety I would hear things like " just don't think about it" and I had to find out for myself how to do that. Prayer for me has been the thing to stop the obsessing on whatever I am obsessing on. I have also had days where I did little but think something I did not want to be thinking  and stopping that thought with prayer OVER, AND OVER, AND OVER again but it kept me from feeding the thought I wanted to be rid of. For me usually anger but I also use this to stay in the moment and not start thinking about what I have to do later- It keeps me from missing the joy that is going on in the moment.

Thanks for letting me share.

:) Diana

I was at a meeting last night and there was a guy there who looked like he could be the brother of a guy I ran around with, when it was still fun, and it was his brother. It is strange how you can think of one person and that whole era of you life seems like it just happend yesterday. God I was so young and at that time I had not even become street smart yet. I started younger than this but I was 12 years old running around with people anywhere from 15 to 35. I was out in the wee hours of the morning getting high and this guy and another guy were shoplifting at the corner store,and anouncing the fact neither had any money, and I had no idea what they were doing- I heard them but it didn't register- untill they were yelling for me to get out of the store. Then we almost got arrested for getting into cars looking for a lighter. That was my first experience with not being able to show my face back in somewhere because of something I was involved with. The one friend has sense become a respectable adult and I have no idea what happend to the other guy or if he is still alive.

anyway- thanks for letting me share.

Returning home we find a place  where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done. We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know him better. Taking this book down from our shelf we turn to the page which contains the twelve steps. Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we  are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. Is our work solid so far? Are the stones properly in place? Have we skimped ont the cement put into the foundation? Have we tried to make mortar without sand? If we can answer to our satisfaction, we then look at step 6. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all things we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them all- every one? If we cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.

When ready, we say something like this: "My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, every singel defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen." We have now completed step seven.

Now we need more action!

Big Book page 75 and 76.

Step 6 and 7 are not between me and my sponsor they are between me and God.

I love the part about how we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. I no longer fear the liquor store or the dope man on the corner. As flawed as I am God has restored me to sanity where the drink is concerned. I have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.

:) Diana