Hello, my friends -
Been raining out here, so I decided that sidewalk chalk was not the medium of choice (yuh think?). Went with oils instead. One of those busy pictures today, of a man in what appears to be a basement, moving boxes upstairs, sweeping the floor and putting up shelves. Looks like he's getting a bit tired, but then housecleaning can do that to you, esp. if it has been neglected for a bit.
We that are members of a fellowship often talk of the three things that we must do to maintain each day of sobriety. "Trust God, Clean House, Help Others". I've been thinking a bit about the house cleaning part. Especiallly what it has meant in terms of the quality of my life. I can remember the time where I used to have to keep my lies straight, make sure I didn't run across certain people or quickly put on one of the many masks I used to deal with life. There sure was a lot of junk I carried around.
Then I ran into Alcohollics Anonymous. Or it ran over me. Whatever. At first I thought they were all two beers shy of a 12-pack. But they had something I wanted. They were happy being sober. I wasn't.
So I listened a bit and heard many of the members that had been around for a few dozen years talk of this mental and emotional "house cleaning" that contributed so greatly to their longevity. Then I finally figured out what it meant to do this. I had to get a sponsor. Someone I could trust. OK - got sponsor. Now I needed to write out all those incidents in my life that would eventually bring to light my shortcomings. Hmmm. OK, not quite as easy as cleaning the basement, but I finally got through most of the big stuff and set it to paper.
Once I had that done, I needed to talk all this crap over with someone I could trust. And they had to still be human, upright and breathing. Well, that's what the sponsor is for, I guess. So after a few missed opportunities (for a while I thought God didn't want me to do it - no such luck) we got together for a while and talked. We prayed and talked more. A whole lot more thn I orignally wrote down.
I left that little meeting with a better picture of myself, a list of things I really needed to work on, talk with God about, make amends for and yes - feeling 100 pounds lighter. No regrets.
Since then I've reiterated this process on several occasions. While I try to keep the house clean on a daily basis, a scheduled sit down with my sponsor makes darn sure.
Cleaning house is a very good thing for this drunk. I got what they have - I'm happy today. You get a chance, try it - it really works...
Nuff Said,
Dennis
