Visit the fine folks at the Chicago Area Service Office (CASO)
Please click on this link for more information: www.chicagoaa.org/

Please join us at the Basil Leaf restaurant.

WHEN: Festivities begin at 6pm
November 8th

Click on the link for more information.
Basil Leaf Ristorante

Greetings to All,

Why not write some new content on a very warm, humid early summer morning on our Summer Solstice?

As I sit here, I ponder greater things, no longer a part of some deeply stored thought in the recesses of my brain. It is time for these thoughts to see the sunlight of the spirit. So here we go:

I have been taught by my elders in this program (and certainly not necessarily in chronological age terms only) that the one sure thing of value, the one thing that we can leave here on this Earth that will remain long after we have moved on, and the one thing that can ensure our sobriety, emotional balance, and a chance at living a life of good meaning, purpose, happiness, and peace, is Giving Away What We Have So Freely Been Given.

This gift of sobriety has been given to me and A) in order to keep it I have to give it away to others, and B)  Why not give this away to those in need in order to increase the circle of recovery? Makes sense? I think so!

There are so many wonderful people in recovery who selflessly give of their time, their energy, and their resources to help the newcomer. I love that. To me, it is all about the newcomer. That is how this all works. The newcomer is there for themselves-scared, angry, remorseful, shame and guilt-ridden, beaten down by alcoholism and addiction, and perhaps standing at their “turning point”.  Yet there they are, actually helping those who have been around for a while in ways that they cannot yet comprehend. In fact, I dare to say that these newcomers are helping the more-established AA-ers much more profoundly than we are helping them. So why not remember this and keep the newcomer first and foremost-always?

This amazing program of recovery, this New Design For Living, affords us the opportunity to be of service while at the same time strengthening our own foundation. I am grateful that as of today, I remember that*“what we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition”.

It is in this spirit that I go out on the path and remember that my duty today is to stay sober and help others where and when I can. With gratitude and humility as my guides, I can live a life of service that is surrounded with peace, joy, acceptance, good living, and a life with true meaning.

Imagine what a world this would be if each one of us in recovery took the time out today to get outside of self, to remove ourselves from the center of the universe, and made someone else the most important person. Imagine what an amazing spiritual chain reaction we could start by making our top priority the duty of helping someone else without thought of recompense or attention.

I ponder greater things………

Gratefully,
Steve G.