Reminding Myself

Telling my story reminds me that I could go back to where I was if I forget the wonderful things that have been given to me or forget that God is the guide who keeps me on this path. ~ A.A. World Services Inc. "Gratitude in Action" Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. A.A. World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Part of Dave B.'s story
in the Pioneers in A.A. stories... He says,
"I felt sorry for myself a lot in those days."
And of his rock bottom, he said,
"I was terribly lonely, full of self-pity,
and terrified." I am not alcoholic
but my compulsive overeating
in these thoughts registers closely to Dave's
born forty-some years earlier.
Then, after he started
A.A. in Quebec, he said, "One of
the most fundamental things
I have learned is to pass on our message
to other alcoholics. That means
I must think more about others
than about myself."
This is true for me as well.
He sums it up with,
"I never forgot a passage I first read
in the copy of the Big Book that Bobbie sent me:
'Abandon yourself to God as you understand God.
Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows.
Clear away the wreckage of your past.
Give freely of what you find and join us.'
It is very simple—though not always easy.
But it can be done." This, too, is true
for me though the book I was given
was stories of compulsive eaters.
And, like Dave in a different program
as well as another nation, I affirm.
"I want to keep this life of peace,
serenity, and tranquility
that I have found." And with Dave
I avow, "I won’t have to drink,
[or in my case eat compulsively]
if I remember one simple thing:
to keep my hand in the hand of God.
So Dave and God and I join hands
across decades, continents,
and programs, walking
Twelve Steps to Recovery.