Varkentje

The truth will set you free. Don't linger in the darkness where shame and guilt reside. Come out into the light. Take steps so that there is no reason for people to think those things that are going on in your heard (and quite possibly in your head only) My past had to happen for me to realize who I am today. Today is beautiful and I too am grateful for everything I was, for I would not be the person today. The discovery of being an alcoholic led me into a journey of self, which brought me freedom and happiness. I owe everything that I feel today, to being a recovering alcoholic.

Congratulation Lady, I stopped at 33, it's a good year to get sober. The 4 Noble Truths (Buddhism) coupled with the 12 steps have brought me tremendous freedom and happiness. I wish you the same on your journey to happy destiny. Perhaps we take take a few steps together.

One day at a time, is the only way that I can do this. Congratulation on the 1 year, that is a miracle.

Het spijt mij. Ik denk dat ik het niet justie zou doen om dit in het Nederlands te typen. - so here goes. I was told by an old-timer once, that all our big problems in sobriety will center around two things, and two things only. "Romances" and "Finances". It appears that you are confirming this once again to me. Relationships are tough enough for just about everyone. But impossible for people who don't know how to love themselves. I am yet to meet a few people, stepping into early sobriety with confidence and a spring in their step. The 12 Steps of recovery are truly amazing. Through surrendering, we become open to a new awareness about ourselves, this can be painful, as we have to do a very thorough self-examination of our defects of character. This awareness continues to grow as we put together a little bit of time where we simply didn't drink. Then we take action towards slowly eliminating bad old behaviors out of our lives so that we can grow into a person with whom our own very judgmental minds can be happy with. We learn to love ourselves. The promises in the big book become true for everyone at this point. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. pg 83. If we are painstaking about this phase of our devel- opment, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experi- ence can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self- pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, some- times slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them. U kunt vandaag beginnen, door dankbaarheid in uw leven te brengen. Start een dankbaarheid dagblad. Begen de dag door aan 5 dingen of mensen te denken die veel aan u betekenen. Aan het eind van de dag, denk aan 5 dingen of mensen die speciaal geweest waren door de loop van die dag. En dan vind u een "sponsor" (is dat wat julie bedoelen met "maatje") die u door de 12 stappen kan nemen. Just for today, don't pick up that first drink. No matter what.

Dank julie allemaal voor de harte welkom.

Mijn naam is Jai, ik woon op het moment in Amerika, maar ik denk dat ik binnenkort wel weer trug naar Nederland zal komen. Ik spreek al een lange tijd weinig Nederlands, daarom gebrijk ik weinig grote woorden en zal mijn schrift redelijk slordig zijn. Ik ben sinds 1 Januari, 2003 nuchter. Ik ben vrij aktief in AA in mijn stadje er rondom. Ik kwam per ongeluk op deze forum, maar raakte snel geintereseerd in alle onderwerpen.