The thing I love about speaker meetings is that I almost invariably go away with one sentence that is going to pop back in my head when I most need it. I heard one speaker refer to these as "God shots" - and he always waited to hear his God shot of the day. [See what I did there?]
I have learned in my brief time in program that the people with years of abstinence have been absorbing years of God shots that they drop like bread crumbs for us newbies to follow. Which points out two things: 1) how important it is to have these old timers around to help us youngins, and 2) just how badass and awesome I am going to sound in a few years when I can drop these
My God shot today came after a discussion with a family friend who is going on 22 years sober in AA. We were talking about the tendency to replace our addictions. So of course, up pops a blog entry dealing with the same subject. The post is about what old timers mean when they say The Road Gets Narrower, and here is the quote that stood out to me:
"When it comes to "fixing" here's the secret, and I learned it the hard way: I will never be able to change how I feel by trying to take something in. I will never be able to let go of the fear or the resentment by consuming -- be it food or goods or people. I cannot fill the hole inside by taking things in -- the only way to shrink the hole is to reverse the flow. It's by giving (of myself, of my time, or my experience, to help others) that I am healed and literally "fixed", that I am filled -- not by taking in." - Mr. Sponsorpants
