Month: October 2018

What Keeps A Person Sober From An Addiction?

If you were to ask someone in recovery from an addiction, what keeps them sober, you’d probably get a wide range of answers.

Some might say it’s by going to a lot of meetings.

Others might say it’s in keeping to regular contact with their sponsor.

I’m quite positive that some would say it’s in sponsoring people as well.

And there’s even those who would say it’s in staying around sober individuals and fellowshipping with them on a regular basis that does it.

For me though, it’s none of those answers. For I’ve learned over the years that there is NO person, place, or thing that will ever be able to keep me sober.

I’ve sponsored many people who went to meetings every single day and still relapsed. I’ve known others who reached out to their sponsor daily as well and still relapsed too. The same holds true for people who were sponsoring individuals and still fell back into their addiction. And sadly, many of my friends who did their best to only spend time with others remaining sober, found their way back into their addiction anyway.

Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, once said that there is only one reason and one reason only why anyone would ever fall back into their addiction and it’s because they failed to enlarge their spiritual life, of which I wholeheartedly agree.

Given what I’ve bene going through these past bunch of years with my health, it hasn’t been the recovery meetings, or my sponsor, or my sponsees, or the fellowship times with others that has kept me sober. What’s kept me sober is my constantly seeking the Light of God through prayer, meditation, reading devotionals, and spending time alone in reflection. And through those things, my Higher Power has led me to attend many meetings, has helped me find a sponsor, has guided me to sponsor others, and has steered me towards sober individuals to hang out with, all of which only added to my remaining sober.

Overall though, if there is one thing I know in recovery, it’s that God is the One who actually keeps me sober and so long as I keep seeking God and remaining open to expanding my relationship with Him, that I will remain sober for the rest of my life, one day at a time of course…

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

Silly Joke Friday

Silly Joke #1

Bill and Marla decided that the only way to pull off a Sunday afternoon intimate session with their ten-year-old son in the apartment was to send him out on the balcony and tell him to report on all the neighborhood activities. The boy began to shout out his commentary as his parents put their plan into operation. “There’s a car being towed from the parking lot,” he yelled. “An ambulance just drove by.” Then a few moments passed.”Looks like the Andersons have company,” he continued. “Matt’s riding a new bike, and the Coopers are having sex.” Bill and Marla both gasped at the same time and immediately shot up in bed. “How do you know that?” the startled father hollered back. “Because their kid is standing out on the balcony too Dad!!!”

Silly Joke #2

Q: Why did Jeff decide to change his Facebook name to ‘No one’?

A: So, when he saw a stupid post from anyone from then on out, he could always click the like button and it will say ‘No one likes this’.

Silly Joke #3

A driver was racing down the road at a very high rate when suddenly he gets pulled over by a policeman. The police man approaches the driver’s door.
“Is there a problem Officer?”
The policeman said, “Sir, you were speeding. License and registration please.”
The driver responded, “I’d give my license to you but I don’t have one anymore.”
“You don’t have one?”
The man responded, “I lost it because of getting caught four times for drunk driving.”
The policeman is stunned. “I see. Well just hand me your vehicle registration then please.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that either.”
The policeman said, “Why not?”
“I stole this car.”
The officer reacted, “Stole it???”
The man said, “Yes, and I killed the owner too.”
At that, the officer exclaimed in horror. “You did what?!!!”
“He’s in the trunk if you want to see.”
The officer, knowing the situation now required back up, told him to remain seated in his car and slowly backed away to his patrol car to call for it. Within minutes, five other patrol cars showed up and surrounded the car. A senior officer slowly approached the vehicle, clasping his half-drawn gun, and yelled, “Sir, step out of your vehicle now and place your hands on the car!”
The man immediately got out of his vehicle, placed his hands on the car, and said, “Is there a problem officer?”
“One of my officers told me that you stole this car and murdered its owner.”
“Murdered the owner?”
The officer sternly responded, “Yes and I’m going to need you to open the trunk of this car right now!”
The man swiftly walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty area.
The officer said, “Is this your car???”
The man responded, “Yes” and after getting permission, reached into his vehicle and quickly handed over the registration papers.
The officer, understandably, was quite stunned. “I was also told you don’t have a driving license???”
The man slowly dug into his pocket, pulled his wallet out, and handed it to the senior officer. When the senior officer opened it and examined its contents, he found a valid driver’s license for the man. He became very puzzled by that point. “Thank you, sir, I don’t understand though, as I was informed you didn’t have a license, that you stole this car, and murdered its owner.”
The man replied, “I have no idea why the officer would say any of that? Honestly, I’m just as shocked as you are right now. He probably told you I was speeding too?! May I please go now?”

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

Thought For The Day

Quote #1

“Like the good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete acts of love.” (Pope Francis)

Quote #2

“The first question which the priest and Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Quote #3

“We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need – regardless of race, politics, class, and religion – is your neighbor. Not everyone is your brother and sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbor, and you must love your neighbor.” (Timothy Keller)

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