Accountability Partners are the BEST!!

Friends in recovery often are just someone who will keep us company while we journey through the hard parts of LIFE!  We are not alone on this journey. There are others JUST LIKE US who we can draw strength hope and encouragement from when we cannot find it within ourselves!

JUST FOR FUN, Try this:

Substitute the word ALCOHOL with any obsession "the people" say you got! ie: gambling, drugs, overeating, sugar, sex addiction, perfectionism, shopping/spending/charging $$ like a lunatic, religiosity, control freak of someone elses habits or coming and goings? .....ouch that hurt huh! They call that enabling and codependancy!Ya got the idea? See what shoe fits:

THE TWELVE STEPSOF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or my compulsive overeating or my explosive anger or my codependancy etc.) that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

OK...ready for the TEST?

Is your drug or alcohol or food or sugar addiction really a problem?

12 questions:

YES or NO?

Have you ever decided to stop drinking or using for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?

Do you wish people would mind their own business about your using and stop telling you what to do?

Have you ever switched your drink or substance to another in the hopes that this would keep you from getting into trouble?

Have you had to have an eye opening fix to get you going in the am in the past year?

Do you envy people who can drink without getting into trouble?

Have you had problems connected to drinking or using in the last year?

Has your drinking or compulsions caused problems at home?

Do you ever try to get “extra” drinks at a party because you did not get enough??

Do you tell yourself you can STOP anytime you want, even though you keep getting drunk or binging when you don’t mean to??

Have you ever missed days of work or school because of a hangover?

Do you have BLACKOUTS?

Have you ever thought your life would be better if you did not do this?

Count how many YES answers?

Is There an Alcoholic in Your Life?

MANY OF US THOUGHT WE WERE SPECIAL
"A.A. won't work for me. I'm too far gone." "It's nice for those people, but I'm president of the P.T.A." I'm too old. Too young. Not religious enough. I'm gay. Or Jewish. A professional person. A member of the clergy. Too smart. Or too uneducated.
At this moment, people all over the world are thinking that A.A. probably won't work in their case for one or several of these reasons. Perhaps you are one of these people.
We in A.A. believe alcoholism is a disease that is no respecter of age, sex, creed, race, wealth, occupation, or education. It strikes at random. Our experience seems to show that anyone can be an alcoholic. And, beyond question, anyone who wants to stop drinking is welcome in A.A.
Our co-founder Bill W., in telling about A.A.'s earliest days, wrote:
"In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the `high bottoms,' the women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the communication was perfected, mostly by the women themselves, the picture changed.
"This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The skid-rower said he was different. Even more loudly, the socialite (or Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same. So did the artists and the professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans and the prisoners.
"But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are finally down.
"In the stories that follow, you may encounter men and women whose race, age, sexual preference, or any number of other conditions are similar to yours. They came to A.A. and found that Alcoholics Anonymous worked just as well for them as it had for hundreds of thousands of others of us who thought we were "different." We found help, and we found friends with whom we could identify and share our experiences.
We are no longer alone.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS© is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.


For more info:


http://aa.org/?Media=PlayFlash

See the BIG BOOK:
http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/

Celebrate Recovery:

Eight Recovery Principles based on the BEATITUDES

by Pastor Rick Warren

R=
Principle 1 -Realize I'm not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.
"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor"
E=
Principle 2 -Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to him, and that he has the power to help me recover.
"Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted"
C=
Principle 3 -Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ's care and control.
"Happy are the meek"
O=
Principle 4 -Openly examine and confess my faults to God, to myself, and to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.
"Happy are the pure in heart"
V=
Principle 5 -Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.
"Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires"
E=
Principle 6 -Evaluate all my relationships; Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I've done to others except when to do so would harm them or others.
"Happy are the merciful" "Happy are the peacemakers"
R=
Principle 7 -Reserve a daily time with God for self examination, Bible readings and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.
Y=
Principle 8 -Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.
"Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires"

Miracles happen in a 12-step group. Find one that suits your issue. Just get plugged in and come back to restoring LIFE, HEALTH and HEALING to all your flesh! It only takes 4 or more YES answers to the above test to signal you are in trouble! Save yourself NOW! Make the first step forward! It is by the grace of God you stumble upon finding about HOW to get free of that which has you bound.

My favorite spot for 24 hr encouragement! (by a favorite singer and friend Bryan Duncan) Go to Radio Rehab/shows! Click there now and listen while you view this site!

www.radiorehab.com

Celebrate Recovery...a NATIONWIDE 12-step melting pot for any compulsive hurt, habit or hangup. Find one close to you and go!!! You'll be in awe how you can find help, ACCEPTANCE AND SUPPORT!

www.celebraterecovery.com/index.shtml

My cyber shrinks Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend, the smartest guys I know of, authors of the wisest books in print today!See: Solution Classes available on CD buy online.... Fabulous resource for getting our emotions back on track!!

www.cloudtownsend.com

And even more common are AA, NA or ALANON you can find anywhere!!

Al-Anon is for the one who loves or lives with the addicted.

http://www.alanon.org.za/

A special corner for SMOKERS!
http://nosmokingnow.blogspot.com/
Get addicted to healthiness!!! TO HELP YOUR BODY WITH ADDICTION WITHDRAWL SEE HOW YOU CAN BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM WITH NUTRIENTS TO COUNTERACT THE SIDE EFFECTS!!

www.cheat2healthiness.blogspot.com

The cheapest way to boost yourself into healthiness is to juice your own fresh, raw vegetable and fruit juices daily! Undo the damage your lifestyle has caused today! Prevent a pending health crisis!

http://www.bragg.com/2007/02/juice-fasting-is-simply-delicious-and.html

DO RETURN TO:

http://eat4life2live.blogspot.com


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AAAAAAaaaaaahhhhh can you feel all that soft, gentle serenity? Do you have plenty of that going on in your life today? I mean right now??

Is there such thing as 12 STEPS for Codependants?
That's the question. Do I have: Peace and rest? Or are they sucking the LIFE out of you? Or are you making everyone in your life insane because of your doings or NOT doings? Which is it? You or them? Of course it's all them. That's the right answer! Did you hear the buzzer ring just then? Can you blame all your woes on what those other people are doing to ruin your life? Kinda makes ya wanna go DRINK! I KNOW it! Or some of you would never "take up" alcohol. I know you! No problem popping those "pills" your Dr. O'Dear keeps giving you just to make you happy that you got what you came for or just to SHUT you UP! Huh?!? O.K., I know that probably isn't your style either. But hey, how bout some cookies, cake, candy and a bag a chips with biscuts and gravy to start your day! That't what I'm talkin about. Maybe it is just some SUGAR or SALT or FAT which is it? These toxic addictions are as acceptable as smoking! Just as harmful. Hmm.... and God sees everything. Don't be fooled.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is; not as I would have it; trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will; so that I may be reasonable happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next. amen . reinhold niebuhr

Favorite artists this page:

Pedro Fraile

David Smith