Author: Andrew Arthur Dawson

A teacher of meditation, a motivational speaker, a reader of numerology, and a writer by trade, Andrew Arthur Dawson is a spiritual man devoted to serving his Higher Power and bringing a lot more light and love into this world. This blog, www.thetwelfthstep.com is just one of those ways...

Silly Joke Friday

Silly Joke #1

A husband and wife (married some time) are driving down the road when the wife screams at her husband, “Slow down, the speed limit is 35!”. The husband screams back, “I’m not speeding”. Several minutes later the wife screams out again, “You just ran a red light!”. The husband (getting more angry) yells back, “The light was yellow, not red. Don’t tell me how to drive!”.

A few minutes later, the police stop the couple. The officer informs the husband that he was stopped for speeding. The wife exclaims “I told you that you were speeding”. The husband then tells her (under his breath) to “Shut up”, and is getting angrier by the minute. The officer asks the husband if he is aware that he also ran a red light. The wife then says “I told you the light was red!”. The husband then screams (even louder) at his wife to shut up again.

The officer then (concerned for the wife’s safety) asks the wife if her husband always treats her this way. She then tells the officer, “No, he only acts like this when he is drunk!”.

Silly Joke #2

Two dudes roll up to a sobriety check point, Budweisers between their legs. They’re plastered, and stand no chance of getting past without getting busted.

They roll up to the cops, the cop peers in, and sees both of them with soggy Bud labels on their foreheads, grinning.

“You two been drinking?”

They smile. “No officer, we’re on the patch!”

Silly Joke #3

A man and his wife were awakened at 3:00 am by a loud pounding on the door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.

“Not a chance,” says the husband, “it is 3:00 in the morning!” He slams the door and returns to bed.

“Who was that?” asked his wife.

“Just some drunk guy asking for a push,” he answers.

“Did you help him?” she asks.

“No, I did not, it is 3:00 in the morning and it is pouring rain out there!”

“Well, you have a short memory,” says his wife. “Can’t you remember about three months ago when we broke down, and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself! God loves drunk people too.”

The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain.

He calls out into the dark, “Hello, are you still there?”

“Yes,” comes back the answer.

“Do you still need a push?” calls out the husband.

“Yes, please!” comes the reply from the dark.

“Where are you?” asks the husband.

“Over here on the swing set,” replied the drunk.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

A Common Misconception That’s Often Made In Attending 12 Step Recovery Meetings…

A common misconception that people in 12 Step recovery programs often tend to make is that when they attend a meeting, it’s for their benefit. While that indeed is partially true, the other truth is that attending a 12 Step recovery meeting benefits everyone else present there as well.

Before entering a 12 Step recovery program, an addict’s mentality is typically one that focuses on all about themselves. Essentially, it’s an “I’ and “Me” type of selfish existence. But in the 12 Step recovery realm, it’s far more about the “We”, the “Us” and the “Our”. In other words, it’s more about the togetherness and not the separateness.

Why I bring this subject up is simply because I continue to see the negative impact that’s created when someone in the recovery world chooses to skip a meeting they normally attend, opting to do something else instead, just because they want to.

Case in point, for each and every person who attends the SLAA meeting I go to every Thursday night, I gain a tremendous amount of benefit from them just being there. I ultimately learn from each and every one of them and also don’t feel so alone with an addiction that once made me feel so incredibly alone. But on several of those meeting nights over the past year, the majority of those who regularly attended it, opted to do other things, leaving only a couple of us there to make the best of it, which unfortunately led to a far less satisfying gathering.

While it may be true that it only takes two people to have a 12 Step recovery meeting, I’ve personally found that when there’s a variety of people showing up, sharing a variety of addiction and recovery experiences, that it creates a far more satisfying gathering for all in attendance. So, in light of that, know that when more and more people begin to choose to skip a meeting they regularly attend, the health of the meeting suffers because of it and can often lead to its demise in the long run.

Nevertheless, this is why I find it so critical to always show up at a group I’ve committed myself to, because I know my presence there not only helps my own recovery, but another’s recovery as well. What I might share there may be crucial for someone else to hear for their own sober journey and what my presence there does is create a unity that can prevent someone from feeling that aloneness that once came from acting out in their addiction.

Of course, I do know that there are always legitimate circumstances that arise from time to time that can prevent a person from attending a meeting they’ve committed themselves to like family emergencies or work obligations or sickness or even a yearly vacation. But when people choose to start skipping a meeting they normally attend because they’re bored or because a better opportunity arises to occupy that time slot, it not only has the potential to hurt that person’s recovery, it can hurt the health of the meeting as a whole too.

Regardless, I have to thank my very first sponsor in the 12 Step recovery realm for initially teaching me this common misconception that’s often made in attending 12 Step recovery meetings. It was because of her valuable insight that I learned that as soon as begin choosing to skip meetings I regularly attend, I’m falling right back onto an addiction-laden path where life becomes all about the “I” and “Me”, instead of remaining on the recovery-laden one where life is far more about the “We”, the “Us”, and the “Our”…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson