Burning out in AA

I have to speak for myself, I think I am getting burned out at AA. I have been going to at least one meeting a day and I have to say this. AA does not keep me sober!! Shocked, don't be , I realized last night that my spiritual relationship with God is what keeps me sober. It has kept me sober for over 4 years, not AA. I am not downplaying AA , I am stating a fact. Where did I get this spiritual relationship? From prayer in the morning and all during the day and at night. The craving for beer or pot has gone, and has been for a long time. In AA each person recounts their drinking and what they drank , it makes me thirsty for a drink. No shit, it is crazy to me, that war stories are told and I am sick of them. Let's talk about living today and not" Hi I am Tom and I am glad to be at AA and I have been sober for 60 years and by the grace of this program I have been sober for this long, and the guy begins to recite every chapter in the Big Book". So fucking what, is he not "self seeking, and worried about his next chapter in the Big Book" or is he headed for a fall. Maybe he just likes to talk to anyone that will listen.. I am not sure.

So why go to AA? I went to meet people that shared the same experience as I , but found out that the only thing I have in common with these good folks is a desire to not drink and I was unable to control my drinking at  a few points in my life. Does AA keep me sober, No. I know this may shock AA people but once I looked at this program, I personally get tired of the same old shit everyday at the meetings. Maybe I am burned out, but all the talking about liquor has made my craving a little bit more observant. What I am trying to say is I dont think about taking a drink every time something good or bad happens to me. I think about how to deal with it, the problem. Not drink it away. I already know I can't drink my problems away, and knew this before I went to AA. Am I at the wrong place? I was never locked up in prison or believe in DWI. I have no sympathy for those who drink and drive, they are idiots. Do what I did if your drunk , hire a limousine to pick you up and help you spend your money so you don't have enough to drink the next night. There is no common sense to driving and drinking. If you do this , you should be put in jail and pay for it. You could of killed me or a child while drinking and driving, dumb ass.

I have no empathy for those who beat up people from drinking or doing stupid shit . That just means they are mentally not ready to drink. I am not saying that one should drink and sit at home like I did. That is bad also. But I commit no crimes when I did this. I just fucked my self up when I did this and I have learned my lesson. Is AA for people that are just plain stupid? I am not sure, most seem pretty smart, but a re-hash of the program night after night has shown me a few things, and why people do not go. I really will have to examine this a bit further and see if a 12 step program for Christians in recovery is possibly where I need to go. Right now, I think I am just fed up with the whole idea that I just don't seem to fit in with the present group I am with, yet I have been to about 7 different places in 4 towns. Same AA ore-amble and a new comer comes in and people are nice to them, but what kind of help are they getting, none. I have given my business cards to a few of these fellows and no one cals, so there is a flaw in this system that was set up to help alcoholics.

Working the steps is still a vital part of staying sober, I believe you can do this with a close friend or stranger and be done with it, and possibly go back to it when needed. Always help out your fellow human beings as step 12 suggest, do we all help others we see in need, no , but sometimes we do. That is human nature, and if you have a blown out tire on the freeway , usually that would be considered a 12 step , you are helping out a unfortunate one that has a problem. I beleieve AA works for some people, and some have no other choice as they can't believe in a higher power and possibly AA is their higher power. Confused today, sorry if I offend you. Chris

William James and Sobriety

William James was a was an American philosopher and psychologist who had trained as a physician. He lived in the late 1800s to 1910. He also was the first person to start a Psychology class in America. He is mentioned in Bill W.'s video I saw on an AA site on the Internet. Bill W. said after reading "The Varieties of Religious Experiences" by William James he had a spiritual awakening. He had no desire after this episode to take another drink.

Interested as I am about this subject, Alcoholism, I decided to buy this book and wow, it is over my head. William is a Philosopher that blows me away with his words in this book. It is over 400 pages on religious beliefs and material concerning religion as a whole and spiritual beliefs that manifest itself. It is hard reading to a guy like myself.

After doing some research and putting down this book. I find out how brilliant this man is, or was and how he added to oour society of AA and the world at large. These are a few quotes from him"Act as if  what you do makes a difference. It Does"

"Belief creates the actual fact"

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another"

"Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook"

Powerful stuff, huh.....This fellow was very precise in this book, and the meaning of living is installed in this book, it would seem. The simplicity of his quotes are elegant and straight forward compared to his book, which is a back and forth pragmatic genius that eludes a reader.

Have a great day and check out the book if you can read this type of information, its very complex. God Bless. 06/26/2013

Sober Past Time Projects

I like to fool around with music and videos, this is an example of what I like to do in my spare time, I hope you enjoy this I composed the music and the Video was shot of the West Texas Skyline from several photographs.  Christopher

Selective Reasoning with a Sober Human

Being sober does not mean all your problems will go away. In fact, quite the opposite happens, you tend to have more problems. How you handle these problems is called living. Selective reasoning is a sober human being is what I call a person who drinks no more, and has decisions to make in life. We all have bills and some of us still have a family that cares for us or relies upon us for financial means. How do we selectively go about deciding on the correct thing to do today?

CHristopherhyer2013

One thing is to attend AA somewhere, and move about to other AA meetings to select a place where you feel more comfortable. This is a good idea to do and I am still going to different groups every day to se how they are run and scope out the longevity of sobriety. I think the longer the sobriety in the group , the more I will get out of the talking that goes on in AA. There are some groups where people talk consistently while another is talking and these can be annoying. There are AA groups that cater to certain people that have either been to court or ordered to go to AA, I steer past these, yet it is good to attend these, so as to know what an outcome this tragedy would be.

Selective reasoning with a sober human may not be easy to do . Some of us have scatter brains from years of use and abuse, and we are not at fault. We just need more time in the program of AA to get our heads cleared out and stay focused. There are still groups that all invite the occasional drinker that is drunk into the group, and this is an interesting thing when happens. It c

an make you rejoice that one is not drinking again. In Fact this is encouraged in AA to come to meetings even if drunk. This rarely happens but does. You have to have an open mind in AA, there are some sore heads also and great people that have a plethora of information for you and I.

I hope you have a great Tuesday and Hello Russia, we are glad to have you on this blog. I hope you can translate this page with no problems. I have noticed that 50 percent of the readers to this blog is Russian. That is great, and I want you to keep coming back for new information, daily. God Bless and have a great Day….Christopher  

How Long Should You Take To Work The 12 Steps

The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are meant to help you stay sober. The faster you work these twelve steps the chances of having a relapse dwindles.Yes, work these within a month if possible , then start working with other alcoholics to help them get sober, this is a plan of action. A plan that needs no hesitation. You will find those of us t

The Park In Midland, Texas by Christopher Hyer

hat say you should work step 4 for a few months, that's crap. You can work this step in a few days if not in a couple of days. AA has been known in the past for making newcomers go through hell in these simple steps. No more, as Chris Raymer suggest , take these steps and work them with a sponsor as quickly as possible. You will need to do this in order to not have a relapse of alcoholism.

I'm guilty of not doing this, as of today I am going into warp speed and working through my fourth step and onward, I will meet with my sponsor as soon as possible and go  over my 4th and 5th step. I have heard this over and over again and I need to take action. I have put off doing the steps in order to go to meetings.I am right now not working full time so I should have the time to work these steps in a few weeks if not this week. I beg you please to work through these and finish these steps so you also can stay dry and sober. We have to or we die. There is no two ways about it , we are only one drink away from going back to where we began. God Bless and Let's get started now!!

Sunday The Day of Rest

Take it easy today, is the slogan of this Sunday 06/21/2013. Sometimes our dreams are not God's dream for us, yet how do we know? I have a dream of shooting surfing on North Padre Island Texas and I have lived this dream, but not on my time. God decides when your dreams are to happen and how to prepare for these dreams, give your heart and soul and prayer to God and let him make that decision. Is this an easy task, of course not. It is something we have to do everytday, is ask for his forgiveness in our own selfish ways. Then pray for the things in your life to change. They will in time. The spiritual malady that exists in each and every one of us, is to have what we want now.

It is too unrealistic to get what we want on our own time, Thy will be done , not ours. It's hard to swallow that line, yet when we do all sorts of wonderful things in our lives start to happen. When I surrender myself to God to do with me as he sees fit, I get an answer but maybe not the answer to a question I originally asked for. Hardly , I can remember what I asked for in the beginning because as time passes through each day we strive for something new. If its materialistic, I don't know how God answers this prayer, if it is to keep us from thinking about drinking the obsession wears away after some time, and the thought will creep into my head on occasion, but to act on this would be devastating . I know this from experience or learning from my prayers. We have to walk spiritually with God all through the day and hope the decisions we make , will impress God. He runs the show, we are mere puppets that should follow His lead. Taking control out of your hands and giving this to a higher power such as God is not even conceived by most church goers. If you have mastered this effort, then you know what I talk about.

To master the effort of letting go and let God is a learned behavior. It can come easily by prayer to God for his guidance in our days. It is proven that this is the only way to stay sober is the steps of AA mixed with a spiritual guidance of God. It does work and you have to work at it. Faith without works is dead, comes to mind. This is a keen example of how one can come to grip with his higher power. Let go today and let God into your life, and see how tonight you have made progress as a person throughout the day, and pray to God before you go to sleeep for not only yourself to have a spiritual relationship , yet show you the way to the devine presence of his way of thinking. It works, if you  let go and Take It easy. Chris Hyer  

Friday 06/21/2013 Big Book Series

The "Big Book" of AA says this,"half measures availed us nothing.We stood at the turning point.We asked his protection and care with complete abandon." What does this mean to you? 

Chris Raymer in New York City Speaks in this video, He is from Ingram , Texas and is excellent!!

I think it means that we tried to do things half ass and they were not good enough. We still fell on our own habits and forgot about God and now is the time to fully understand him and how he works. Here are the steps to recovery is the next sentence.

SO we tried and we fell, unless we changed our attitudes, we are destined for more misery. I don't want that in my life, do you? So we took on the twelve steps of recovery and tried to work these into our daily lives. This is all try to work these steps to the best we could is all God ask from us. Say your morning prayers and ask for God to lift you up and prepare you for the day ahead.

This is a program for living life sober and just wanting a new plan of action for ourselves. Not much to ask for and if prayed for , all would happen. belief in a spirit greater than yourself , because it is true, stop trying to run the show, or you will fail. Thi is a tough act to follow with our stubborn heads running the show, try today to let God run the show. Forgive those that cut you off when driving, Say " God Bless them", Yell it at them.. It feels god instead of cussing anyway.

Have a sober day today and go hit a AA meeting at noon if possible, they are a great refresher for me. Then look forward to tonight when you will be around your AA friends and live a little. Life is fun, and even in its weakest moment, you can laugh at yourself, and go on... God Bless....