Wed Night AA Riverside Men's Group

Good evening folks, This week we put down the book for our end of month speaker meeting. So get your popcorn and soft drinks at the concession stand and  enjoy! I love these speaker meetings 'cause it kinda feels like we get to take a little break from all the seriousness of AA Big Book Study. I remember Jon P. once told me he'd gone to the beach and taken a few days to go soak in the sun to get away from AA for a little while. Now he was a  very  active member so it kind of shocked me to hear him say that but he told me that AA needed to be "worn like a loose garment". Our primary purpose isn't to convert the masses. We help those who  seek  help and those we  can  help. So a little reminder of  Rule 62  once in a while is in order. Happy 24hrs, David t. 2016 Meeting Dates -->Reading:  Being Sober and Becoming Happy 01/28/15 Speaker Meeting <Steve W.> 02/25/15 Speaker Meeting <Gerard P> 03/25/15 Speaker Meetin...

Good evening fellas, This week's reading is  Flooded with Feeling p369-374.  This a great short story (or maybe it's great because its short?). I've always felt there's no point in using many words when few will do and I think this story makes the case. It's true that this guy's drinking career didn't sound like there was all that much to tell to begin with but he's precise with his descriptions and I identified with several of his points. One of those points was this vague undefinable feeling of  not belonging . The idea of facing those moments alone kept me in sauce for awhile longer. Neither was coming to AA an immediate remedy for me. It took some time but eventually I walked into a meeting and I knew everybody's name and they all knew mine. I'd heard enough of everybody's story to know that they felt like I did and it finally dawned on me I was not alone and right there in that room  I belonged !! I went online earlier today to chec...

Hi folks, Here is your reminder for this week's Wednesday night meeting. We will be reading  Tightrope p359-368.  I found it curious that in the opening paragraph the speaker says  "As long as a person held down a job, didn't embarrass his family or friends too frequently, and kept out of trouble, he was entitled to get drunk on a regular basis" (p359-AA).  Surely many of us held this belief once too at some point or another, I think it was my life's opening paragraph too. I've met many people who are asleep or unconscious to their drinking problem, hiding behind their job, relationship, status, title, education, bank account or what have you in order to justify their behavior. Some people might call that denial (they wouldn't be wrong), but I remember making these "I can't be an alcoholic because..." statements myself and I don't recall trying to "hide" my behavior so much as I  really   didn't believe  there was...

Good evening, This being the last wednesday of the month (of the year for that matter), we'll be having our usual Speaker Meeting this wednesday night. Personally, I love speaker meeting for 2 reasons: 1- It's a great way, at least for a good speaker, to illustrate through their experience how the program works -- how to practice these principles in all our affairs, and 2- It's a great way to get to know someone in the program, after hearing a person's story you really can't help but feel closer  to that person. On that note, I had a curios conversation this weekend. I was visiting my father and I mentioned to him that some of my old classmates were talking about our upcoming 15th year HS reunion (holy crap, 15 years?!  ). I noted how difficult is to make friends like the type of friends you make when you're a kid. His reply has been marinating in my noggin for the last few days (proof wisdom can be found in the strangest of places!!). What he said was t...

Hello Friends, This week we review Because I'm an Alcoholic p338-348 . Also a reminder, we will be meeting next Wednesday the 30th for our speaker meeting. I hope everyone is looking forward to a couple days off for Christmas and New Years. Even though I don't celebrate Christmas myself (the whole jew thing and all) I would like to wish everyone a terrific holiday season and a Merry Christmas. End of year can be a challenging time. With the dinners, parties, gifts, traffic, endless lines, taxes, marchamo and so forth, December is Jam Packed! The energy in the air is almost at a constant fever pitch and if we're not careful, it's easy to get carried away. The results can be impatience, intolerance, irrationality, irrationality, Road Rage and basically every other negative emotion antithetical to what the season is supposed to be about. In times like these,  I try to remember what the Desiderata says "Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with you...

Good evening fellas, Just your reminder this week we'll be reviewing  Student of Life p319-327.  I like this section of the book "They Stopped in Time" (part II of the personal stories) because they really illustrate just how varied & different our bottoms can be .  For many, the lack of  consequences  was equal to proof of not having a problem. However, in my case, I was only got clear headed enough after getting sober to really see the consequences of my actions -- it's probably one of the reasons we kept drinking past the point of sanity; to keep us oblivious to the reality of our drinking .     Sometimes, we may  feel  we still have some legs under us as far as the drink goes. This weekend I accompanied my girlfriend to a bar in San Pedro for her department's after-hours work party and  Ohhhhhhh Mmmaaaaaaaaaan !! They had some drinks I'd never heard of and now they've got these portable beer fountains they bring straight t...

Good evening folks, On a count of being a day late and buck short with this e-mail (i won't deny it), I'll keep this real short and sweet. Tomorrow we review  Crossing the River of Denial p328-337. Hope to see you there! Merry Christmas to all if I don't see you before then! regards, David t