Alcoholics Anonymous is not for people who need it; it’s not for people who want it; it’s for people who do it.*

Some days I need it; some days I want it; and some days I do it.

When I speak, I speak to all peoples; not just alcoholics. I could speak at a political rally. I could speak at a church. And yes, I could speak in a meeting f Alcoholics Anonymous.

For some people Alcoholics Anonymous is a step down; For others it’s a step up; And for others, it’s simply a way through.

Then I did volunteer work at our local treatment center for chemical dependency, I noticed the patients we often distracted by complaints about food, space, attitude of techs, the lack of individual care given the enormous cost being charged them. IT WAS THEN THAT I HAD THAT MOMENT OF CLARITY LOOKING BACK ON MY OWN RECOVERY THAT -AN ALCOHOLIC WILL:

•Use anything to avoid looking at themselves

•Once we stop drinking, we often switch addictions; relationships, blame, work…

•Alcoholics can die of other things besides alcohol you know

•While you can, take full advantage of the opportunities afforded you to get better

*I will go ahead and say that whatever your reason come whatever you’re yesterday frame of mind for that day…. Whatever gets you in the rooms, whatever keeps you in the rooms -is fair game.

“God does not make too hard a terms with those who seek Him”.

Bill Wilson, in much of the literature; speaks of character building; of becoming better human-beings; of growing in the likeness of our creator; of having the best possible relationships with others; of spiritual growth on a daily basis throughout the life cycle; of the necessity for constant growth if we are to maintain** sober, happy, productive lives.

**Maintenance has never been one of my strong points. In fact, I’m the kind of guy that dusts about once a year. They say Bill Wilson too was legendary for his lack of enthusiasm when it came to domestic chores.

What if the country you lived in had no AA meetings? God! God! God! God knows the difference between a person who willfully refuses to participate in their own recovery, and a person who is restricted or limited

Alcohol took precedence over the things in my life, the people in my life I loved dearly! When we come to recovery -we are granted a second chance at life. Life is for living!

Get busy livin’ -or get busy with dyin’.

For some people, too much freedom is the worst thing that could happen to them.

Everything is permitted -but not all things are beneficial.

You know, if you can’t be happy living in this country… we have the freedom, the opportunity, and many thousands and thousands of things we can enjoy and participate in. In some countries there are soldiers on every corner… people cannot make a move without… 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️

Not dyin’ is not the same thing as livin’!

For many years in my recovery I thought of success in terms of not screwing up. I thought of happiness in terms of not screwing up. But this is only half the formula for success, for happiness…

Few things are more exhaustive than processing/reciting truth!

How do you figure a pack of wolves have the advantage of running down an animal with that animal can out-pace any one of them? Same thing with a group of men chasing after one man!!

People with money worry about being wanted for their money hythere money-and in many cases with good reason.

So when it comes to things like love, things like friendship-who hasn’t worse, the rich man or the poor man? The rich man who has everyone (for the wrong reason) or the poor man who has no one (but atleast knows where he stands -and why)?

A lot of older people are bitter and angry because the world isn’t as nice or as good as it used to be. And some young people are now coming on board as well.

TWO things man CAN aspire to which would raise his spiritual character to a place where one can perhaps peer no where else but down:

•Absolute concern to the extent of suffering due to the downfall (moment-to-moment; day-by-day) of his fellow man; next to him; across the 🌎.*

•The most difficult thing in the 🌎 for most of us to is stand by another human being under any and all circumstances, no matter what it does to us in the process (for God sees…), until you have done everything humanly, and supernaturally possible to bring him or her back from the brink!*

And I’ll be the first to admit I TOO NEED TAKE THIS MOST POWERFUL ADVICE!!!! I TOO AM LACKING GREATLY IN THE STRENGTH/FORTITUDE NECESSARY!!!!

If you feed the spirit -the body suffers

If you feed the body -the spirit suffers

*A thought that had escaped me earlier just returned 🤔 -If a person is willing to 🚶‍♀️go🚶‍♂️to hell-and-back to compete for Olympic-gold, he should be twice as willing when it comes to the welfare of his fellow man (just think of all the compensatory adjustments we’ve had to put in place due to our incompetence, our negligence, our division, in short; our failure time-and-time again to be adequately prepared as a species -as a whole! THANK YOU LORD! 🙏

I own the CD and the DVD sitting in my bedroom. And yet, the people who manufacture them still seem to yield control over them

It always comes down to who has the power. Corporate America argues if you want our product bad enough and you do so according to our policies. Corporate America is always ready and willing to step forward and proclaim… the amounthree the American public on the other hand…. Exclude easily say if you want our business then you change your policies…. But American citizens seem to be more willing to accept the policies of corporate America however seemingly seemingly or truly unfair unfair they may be whereas corporate America on the other hand is constantly fighting To change policy in their favor.

•Resources on this planet are being further depleted

•People are probably under the gun as far as creating new jobs for things we need even less now than the jobs that were being created 10 or 20 years ago producing services and things we didn’t need then

•The rich continue hoarding more than their fair share calm and there’s more of them than ever – All the name of what; “What’s the point in living if you don’t have the freedom to outdo your fellow human being?”

•Meanwhile: Ensuing generations are finding it harder and harder and harder to thrive -to find something worth living for themselves.

As it was told to me some years ago years ago, “There should be a cap on how much people can drain or suck out of the pool”. Say 10 million. Once they reach that limit they carry over into the sector of charity where they work to help the needy. And then somebody else steps into their old job and it makes a good living. Now you have 2 people making a good living-living well, instead of just one. And that person that reached the 10 million mark can train and pass on their skills as well.Pass them on out of consideration to their fellow human being and not too bad to a part of gold yeah it’s a part of gold they can never spend spend in their entire lifetime perit’s a lifetime. Not without being foolish and childish anyways.

It’s even worse for the people on top than it is for the people on the bottom – People at the top: in line with history, will fieel they are being attacked. That they’re freedom to exploit the system take the system to whatever degree necessary or capable April bull… is being being stolen right out from under them. It is this belief -that of the right to rape and pillage…. That is the real issue -Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it is sensible; right; in the best interest of… And while I’m there, I may as well add, just because something is illegal -doesn’t mean it’s wrong. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

I have an aunt and an uncle who want to give me some money as an inheritance. But neither seems entirely willing to let that money go. As painful as it would be for me, and for you who are in the same situation -If a person can’t let go of their money -then maybe it’s best just to keep it.

It’s like I was thinking the other day, if you’re gonna give stuff away to The Goodwill, The Salvation Army… Don’t just give away junk. Remember, the idea is to help people in need -not just to make more room in your drawer. Besides, there are a ton of people out there in the world who are right on the edge of giving up on humanity -giving up on HOPE!!!! A good deed on your part could do more than you may ever possibly know. 😉

Those people I hurt in anger whom I claimed to love -I am not so sure of now. Can it be possible to hurt people you love? I think more so when you love yourself more than you love them. The more you love others than you love yourself -the less inclined you are to hurt them even when they hurt you.

Now I know what previous generations meant when they said things like “…When Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby, and Elvis were still young” -It reminds them of the time when they were still young, full of life, able, filled with dreams of the future -hope for Tomorrow. We associate our timelines in our lives with music and with celebrity -I know I do. To me it now is,, “I remember when Sylvester Stallone was young. When Sean Connery and Roger Moore were still alive… When groups like Duran Duran were still young “. 😪

I remember when my aunt told me not too many years ago, “Rick, do things while you still can, while you’re still young.” 💪

My grandmother used to say, “Rick loves Rick!” I could understand her feeling that way given my outward behavior and attitude.. Looking back however, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, I hurt myself more than any other person ever did -I hated myself! Most alcoholics addicts do to some degree or another.*

If somebody had done to me would I have done to me, what I had done to my family.. I probably would have killed them. But when it comes to ourselves most of us live with that shame, that anger, that hatred! Someone said a long time ago that “depression is anger turned inwards.” The self is a funny thing. In a roundabout sort of way it’s the same thing for ourselves as it is with others in terms of our attitude towards those we don’t like, those we have lost respect for. But in a different sense it is entirely different -We don’t beat the hell out of ourselves literally the way we would somebody else. But when we see ourselves in others -that’s when the hatred comes out. When we deny our sabotage our plans…. That’s when the shame and unworthiness come out. How do we explain people who are highly successful but loathe themselves deeply? I guess it’s like the white dog black dog in every man; the one you feed that day -WINS! It’s a very interesting thing, the idea that there’s 2 opposing opposing things inside of a man-both of which determine his life, his success, his failures. Whether he chooses to be a janitor or the president of the United States. Whether he chooses a woman that is good to him or a woman who is bad to him. And what about choosing to remain in a relationship that’s no good -there certainly seems to be lots of that going around. The hardest thing in the world for most people is to get to the root of the problem -where the solution also lies. That’s why they never reached the solution. You gotta go through the problem to get to the solution.. Just like you gotta go through a lot of bad people (sometimes); in order to get to the good ones. In the end, success boils down to 2 things:

•How badly do you want it

•How much is it worth to you

You may say, “But they’re the same thing” -“THEY PROBABABLY ARE!”

When I got to the steps and started working them with Granville, I noticed something:

•Unworthiness -So what happens when you follow the suggestions, good thing start happening in your life, and you don’t want them? You don’t feel worthy of them? Unworthiness is a huge factor in many an Alcoholics success in recovery. It’s probably the root of most failings. It’s my personal belief that until we resolve the issues between ourselves, nothing outside of us will be able to take root permanently. Not God, not the promises coming true, not a willingness to follow the suggestions…That’s exactly what I was for many many years-limbo; A living hell sober! Not too many people can make it through this trial.

•So what’s the answer to the riddle: Like Rocky said “It’s not a hard you can hit back it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”. Unfortunately for me, and a lot of other people, I did a lot more of one than I did the other -for a very long time. 😕