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=====TABLE OF CONTENTS=====
=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS
=====INTERESTING THOUGHTS
=====READERS' COMMENTS & CONTROVERSIES
=====TIP & TALK FEATURE ARTICLE
=====SPONSOR'S SPIEL
=====AN EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY
=====FEATURED LINK OF THE WEEK
=====PURE BOLOGNA & HOGWASH
=====SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE / COMMENT
=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS=====
DISTRIBUTION: God willing, Principles hits cyberspace every Friday morning. Find Subscribe & Unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of this page.
PRIVACY: I will never publish, give, loan, or sell your e-mail address to anyone. Never - No way - No how.
Thanks...Charles Roper
=====INTERESTING THOUGHTS=====
Nothing promotes disrespect for authority more than unjust and unworkable laws, and if the collective minds of government can't come up with something better than fines for the poor, curfews for the innocent, and prison for drug addicts, then we're surely doomed.
The only solution to the drug problem is to legalize all drugs, a concept many people find hard to accept. But it's worth remembering that in the age before prohibition, drug crime and death due to drug overdose was virtually unheard of.
--Carl Wagner
=====READERS' COMMENTS & CONTROVERSIES=====
From Subscriber, Teresa B.:
"I submitted a letter asking for comments following an opinion you printed from a [drug abuse] counselor posing a theory as to why alcoholics and drug addicts drink or drug. My letter was not printed in its entirety, yet a rather long response by Kate with a comment in it directed to me was printed in the next edition of the Principles - Newsletter. I would ask you to print what I wrote in full because it offered an explanation of the disease concept of alcoholism that she was decrying. It seems like you've moved on from this subject, but I feel offended by her remarks, especially when she did not even read all of my point. Thank-you for your consideration."
[Editor says: No problem, Teresa; here's your letter in its entirety]:
"I, too, am a chemical dependency counselor, but I only have 9 years in the field. I am a recovering alcoholic, co-dependent, addict, Catholic and you name it. I'm not sure if I understand Mike D.'s premise, but surely he must have heard, either in the rooms of AA or even from professional colleagues, that alcoholics drink because they have alcoholism. It's a disease. Yes, we're all taught to identify our triggers, those feelings and situations that might lead us back to the drink, especially in early recovery. But the disease is physiological - in other words, it affects us physically, mentally and emotionally. The physical part is the brain chemistry and the part that has been proven to be passed along genetic lines. Many alcoholics say, "I think I was an alcoholic before I ever took a drink." We identify, after the fact that we have the disease, that we felt "different" all of our lives. Even that is something we have in common with non-alcoholics. What sets apart an alcoholic is the magic alcohol works in us and how quickly we realize the beauty of what it "does for us." Ask 10 alcoholics if they remember their first drink and then ask 10 non-alcoholics (make sure they're non-alcoholics) and I guarantee some interesting results to this little test. Once the magic potion has been tasted and felt alcoholism is as individual as each alcoholic. Some go speedily downhill, others drink for years before the signs of loss of control become obvious, some just drink and maintain a certain blood alcohol level all the time and when it dips - well, best to get away from that person until they get the BAL up there again. That's why some alcoholics go to jail, some don't drink enough to tell if they're alcoholic or just crazy, and some die suddenly from liver failure. It's important to know the signs and symptoms of alcoholism and no one or two symptoms can stand on their own conclusively. It takes a combination of them and a certain number of them to make an actual diagnosis of alcoholism, early, middle or late stage. Alcoholism is a medical issue, a health problem which affects the alcoholic and everyone around them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually - not unlike most other diseases, if you think about it. Thanks...Teresa B."
=====TIP & TALK FEATURED ARTICLE=====
RECOVERY TIP:
Gratitude is an attitude. It's a frame of mind available to us at any and every point of our recovery.
RECOVERY TIP TALK:
I received the following note from Danny the other day. Danny is one of our first subscribers and a fairly regular contributor to this newsletter. He writes:
"This week marked my first year of sobriety and recovery. My first sober Christmas since I was a sophomore in high school. It's been a whole year of amazing firsts for me. First New Year's celebration, first Spring, first loss of a parent - all experienced in real time and with raw emotions. First airplane flight without fumbling for dollars. All firsts because I don't remember what the other life was like - the one that seemed to end thirty-six years ago when drinking replaced living. New life, new heart, new eyes. Keeping it
simple...danny"
Danny's note triggered memories of early sobriety and all of the "amazing firsts" that we encounter with a mixture of fear, joy, wonder, confusion, and yes...even gratitude.
Here's a few of my amazing firsts. Do any of them feel familiar?
> I woke up one morning and remembered a dream - in detail.
> I watched other people get drunk at a party.
> I watched other people not get drunk at a party.
> My wife and I made love and talked afterwards.
> I had money left after a weekend, and it wasn't crumpled up in the front pocket of my jeans.
> The clock read 7:15 on a Saturday night, and I didn't know what to do with myself.
> Some buddies left me off their invite list to watch a football game.
> Strangers gave me hugs at AA meetings, and I believed they meant it.
> Certain foods tasted really good.
> Stale alcohol, even on someone's breath, smelled really bad.
> I went to the dentist and turned down the nitrous oxide.
> I changed the oil in my car right on time.
> I turned and walked (ran, really) away from someone who offered me a hit of coke.
> I prayed for someone else's well-being.
> I felt grateful for being sober and clean.
How about you, dear readers? I would like to read about some of your amazing firsts.
Email them to me at:
Mailto:Principles-Newsletter-owner@egroups.com
=====SPONSOR=====
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"...this book has become a companion to my Big Book."
"...reading High Bottom Drunk has deepened my understanding of AA's principles tenfold."
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=====AN EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY=====
By admitting that we are powerless to play God, we no longer expect the world to conform to our egocentric beliefs and opinions. The world's ideas and direction become our own. This is called conforming with the Tao.
It is said that if you take a step to the left or to the right of the Tao, you are lost in your own false sense of control and power. Admitting powerlessness over our addictions--our specific diseases--is acknowledging that we must act in accord with a Higher Power, call it the Tao, Buddha-nature, Allah, your Original Self, or God.
Our original state of grace, as Christians would call it, exists before the mind creates critical judgments. This mind is the one that Zen is pointing at--the mind that simply pays attention to the present and doesn't make vain attempts to mold the world to its desires. Dividing experience according to our interpretations is the original sin, the original error, and denial.
Paraphrased from: The Zen of Recovery, by Mel Ash.
=====SPONSOR=====
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=====LINK OF THE WEEK=====
This week's featured link is: Alcoholism Glossary. The glossary resides on Buddy T.'s About.com site, which is an amazing storehouse of information and resources on alcoholism and recovery.
Visit the site at:
http://alcoholism.about.com/health/alcoholism/library/glos/blglosary.htm
=====PURE BOLOGNA & HOGWASH=====
Bob noticed that his neighbor down the street-a notorious alcoholic-had been home every day for several weeks, so he went over and asked him what was going on.
The alcoholic replied, "I left my job because of illness and fatigue."
A few weeks later, Bob ran into the guy's wife, who told him what had really happened.
"Well, what he told you wasn't a total lie. What happened is that his boss got sick and tired of him."
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==========================
Alrighty, then...till next week, do us all a favor and keep
it simple.
Charles Roper, Editor
Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips & Talks
Alcohol & Drug Abuse - The Addiction & Recovery Information
& Resources Web site:
http://www.alcoholanddrugabuse.com
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