Today I got a call from a fellow addict that is on vacation in Turkey. I was so surprised that he would call I can only imagine how much it costs from there to Toronto Canada. He said he is having a wonderful time there but really needed to hear a familiar voice. He was telling me that he went to his first meeting there today, not speaking the language at all he had some trouble finding it. After a feeble attempt at charades with the local police he decided to draw the NA symbol, sure enough they then knew exactly what he was trying to ask them and showed him the way. He sat in the meeting not understanding anything that was said and took his turn to share knowing that he would not be understood either. After the meeting he felt good and got some hugs, but still felt home sick ...so he called his sister in recovery for support , me! I love my NA family and I know that no matter where I am they will be there for me like I was for him today, what a blessing.
I hear it's a beautiful place its a very old country so there are probably lots of neat ruins and stuff to see.
Sounds like you have a good friend Sandra .
I went out fishing friday night and just about stopped into a spanish speaking AA meeting the town of Mendota is mostly Mexican because of the agriculture out there, there were guys out front hanging out I wanted to stop but sun was setting and I needed to find a spot to fish before sundown maybe next time i'm out there
I have lots of great friends thanks to NA. Before recovery I spent over 2 years in my basement and even the birds chirpping out side were my enemies...lol. I would be lost in a meeting that was not in english, it's the only language I know and most days I still dont understand lol. Must be nice to have so many beautiful places to fish, I live close to lake Ontario and you cant even swim in it because of polution . Dont think I would eat the fish from there.
I was thinking about what your talking about here today Sandra and how I now can actually talk to people, it's alot different then it used to be for sure. I used to have an attitude big time, smart mouthed punk, don't ask me for help I was helping myself. I didn't even joke around much unless it was with a homeboy and prison yard mentality , that stuff makes me sick now sick to my stomach .
I don't have alot of friend working a program , I have a few who seem to be in as much as there out one in particular if I here from him he in if not I know he's out, he's been out for months again though he wont admitt it I know, I need to make new friends time for me to start hitting some f2f meetings i'm heading out now for one, something else i've been needing to do..thanks Sandra
Hey Vini f2f meetings are the best way to meet great friends for me. We all have the same interests and goals in life...recovery. I was told early on to stick with the winners, those winners have become like family to me only better my brothers in recovery dont beat on me like my blood brother did lol. Good for you for getting to a meeting!
we can wrote: Hey Vini f2f meetings are the best way to meet great friends for me. We all have the same interests and goals in life...recovery. I was told early on to stick with the winners, those winners have become like family to me only better my brothers in recovery dont beat on me like my blood brother did lol. Good for you for getting to a meeting!
Welp i'm glad I went I happened to hit a mens NA meeting, got there late but liked what I heard and saw a guy I knew from about 8 months ago when I went to a few f2f meetings, he's still hanging in there with 18 months it was good to see him.
Then I stayed for part of there business meeting, I even offered to help them with a logo they were wanting to put on t-shirts for an event that was coming up, so during the ciggy break I talked with the guy in charge of the t-shirt thing and another guy was talking with him who once I said I did some graphic designs and offered to help he made it clear he was a PROFESSIONAL graphics designer but he had no computer (O.K) I just walked away pissed me off that I offer to help , well anyhow one reason I don't go to those meetings much are the F'd up personalitys of some of the people there I have no patience nor the tolerance to BS around with nutcases and it's to stressful for me to even try at times what can I say i'm no saint nor am I interested in becoming one ....SEE this is why I don't go to meetings LOL but i'll go back to that mens meeting seemed like some good men in there working a program
Like I said stick with the winners. There are a lot of people in the program that don't work a program at all but just stay clean, I honestly don't hang with those ones. May sound selfish but the way I see it my recovery comes first. Don't get me wrong I am more than willing to help a new comer, but the folks that have been around longer than me and are still miserable p#%@*! are not part of my crowd. Just like the rest of the world there are a lot of A holes in NA and I will always be there to help them if they ask me, but I can do that without making them part of my life. I hope you find someone strong in recovery to walk the journey with you Vini, you deserve it.
Yeah I hear you Sandra , a couple nice things happened got to talk with one guy for about 15 minutes and was glad to see him hanging in there. Then an old OLD timer from the program walked up to me and said " I've seen you around here for years now, who are you?" so I told him my name and asked him if he remembered a good friend of mine who passed away about 8 years ago, he died during a relapse from an overdose he had about 6 years clean and he said he remembered Loco Johnny very very well matter of fact he was his sponsor at one time way back. Loco Johnny was as good a brother to me as anyone has ever been and I still miss him a great deal at times.
The mens group what little I got to sit in was really good one guy spoke and I mean from the heart , about where he started from when he walked into those rooms , he was living on the street totally lost, he's come a long ways in a short time he had a wonderful message and I want to get to know him.
Today I thought alot as usual, when working my brain drifts away from what I am doing because what I do is so ingrained in me I don't have to think about the work I think about life and people and situations, about what i'm feeling inside and where i'm at. I thought about how I reacted to things yesterday and realized that I have to really work on tolerance and acceptance of other people and I need to be able to communicate with them even when I don't like the way a situation may be going instead of walking away I could have done a few other things. It takes courage and i'm used to either running away or fighting my way out , not used to just normal stuff like compromise and calmly talking thru something to get to the solution, i'm impatient and demanding not that these traits don't come in handy in some aspects they can but not the way I use them.
Sometimes we have to walk by ourselves at times but I don't think we are alone, if we let our minds go quiet a voice will speak to us, I think that is our higher power guiding us, my higher power was YELLING at me before i relapsed this last time and telling me everything I needed to do I have started doing those things by getting involved daily here and now outside of here because I know what I need to eventually do and that is be in service in one form or another, the idea is to get started and see where we are taken and go along and not fight it or change things. If we listen we will be guided.
Thanks Sandra see I knew I would get you into service you are helping ME
that is whyt the program has you look at principles before personalities don't look atr the messenger just listen to the message the teacher will come when you are ready to take certain steps we will love you till you can love yourself SURRENDER means no longer have to fight anymore that is the biggest relief I have found in this process of recovery. It gives me hope where there was none. Today I am 19months and 4 days clean without the fellowship steps principles as well as the traditions I would not be here I am eternally grateful for NA
Hi, I was reading your post and I had to laugh. It is so true. The fact that you mentioned being in the basement took me back to the end of my road. That's where I was for my last run, a week in my Mom's basement. I truly thank God for the people He put in my life from N.A. If it wasn't for you all I probably wouldn't have any friends . I'm not the easiest guy to get along with in the first place and on top of that... being an addict, so I need people in my life that understand me and can see through the masks I try to wear. So I say to my na family, Thanks for being here. phil
Today I am 19months and 4 days clean without the fellowship steps principles as well as the traditions I would not be here. I am eternally grateful for NA
WOW, 19 MONTHS AND 4 DAYS CLEAN !!! YOU MUST BE A TRULY ROCKIN' MIRACLE RAYNE !!! WAY TO GO MY FRIEND !!! CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BIG N AWESOME 19 MIRACLES !!! IT WORKS, YOU ARE THE PROOF !!! NOW ENJOY THE CAKE
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
hey sandra i am sure this is an old post but I am here setting up becky's puter and showed her around this sight. yes she has no excuse to not do a grat list everyday now so more will be revealed LOL
Hey talking about gratitude lists, I have been a part of a gratitude list group that works thru chainmail forawhile now (Dalin) included me on the list... I can't express how helpful a tool this has become in my daily recovery today... I'm consciously able to feel grateful for many things in the course of a day now, more effectively than before, and doing so has taken my focus off from what's not there in my life and what's wrong in my life to what's there in my life today, and what am I doing right in my recovery today... surely a positive shift of attitude, and all this merely because a few kindred spirits from the other side of the world were kind enough to include me in sharing their daily gratitude lists with... felt like sharing...
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
. I'm not the easiest guy to get along with in the first place and on top of that... being an addict, so I need people in my life that understand me and can see through the masks I try to wear. 
