Grateful/Ungrateful

[caressa]

Tonight at my home group, the East End Group, we are having our gratitude meeting.

I have made chocolate chip cookies, Magic Bars (my version - added cranberries for a holiday touch to the coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips), and have red, green, and white gum drops for some holiday colour.

My friend is coming for supper and making her garlic chicken so we can have dessert at the meeting.

I am grateful for friends and family. I rejoined an old family last night. I went to a group in NA that I originally joined ten years ago. I have left several times but keep going back. What I did was take my name off the membership list and rejoin every time I came and went. I always felt that if I couldn't be active in service, I wasn't a true member. For me, service is a big part of recovery, if you don't do service you don't reap the benefits of full recovery.

I am grateful that I can keep coming back, although my friend said they should have had a group conscience meeting to decide whether I could joine AGAIN! I told him I could leave and join in the same night if he had a problem. I think he will let me stay, I hope so, he gives me a ride home.

What a gift laughter is, especially when you can laugh at yourself.

What are you grateful for?

[Lin]

I never heard of a group turing away a person because they left and came back. I thought the only requirement was a desire to stop drinking/using? That ws mean of him to say that, in my opinion. I'm not sure I'd give them the opportunity to tell me that again.

Gratitude? Cool that was the topic this morning. I chaired my home group last ngith and that was my topic. Last week we had 13 and this week we had 3. I was grateful that i showed up. The newcomers depend on "old timers" to be there.

Tonight at our largest group they are having a candle light ceremony and snacks afterwards with the alateens and AA. (all three meeting in the same building at the same time each week)
I wont be going....it's past my bedtime. The meeting is over at 9 and that's when the candle light starts.

I rememebr the first time I was feeling sorry for myself after getting into recovery my sponsor told me to make a gratitude list. She even gave me a little journal to write it in. I made that list. ANd each time I was p-o'd about some part of my life I'd get out my journal and there is was...I soon learned to find the GOOD in all parts of my life.

I went to my family Christmas at my brother's house on Sat. Inthe past I['ve had some serious resentments of him. He's a jerk and always will be. But i found gratitude in the fact he has a very gracious wife and his kids and grandkids are wonderful. I enjoyed the little ones.....and the food and let him be his obnoxious self without it getting to me.
I could find enough to be grateful for to not let his remarks bother me.

LIN

[caressa]

My friend has a sick sense of humour. He could have meant it, doesn't matter, it isn't about him. He is a workaholic. Works 6 days away, 8-10 hours a day, and on Sunday he works does what he needs to do for himself. He feels he is a useful, productive member of society. To me you need balance. He eats and sleeps and works and has no time for fun, fellowship and feelings.

We had a good night last night. We had about ten trays of goodies. Cakes, cookies, candy and pizza made for good stuffing. We had a good crowd with 20 people in attendance.

We had a real bonus. A man who was just coming back in, a person I have known for 14 years who keeps going back out to do more research, although to me, it is more like a death wish, very sad. I am really grateful to people like him who do my research for me and show me it is not better out there and I don't have to go out there myself, they remove any doubt about my disease.

[Gramm4]

What I'm really grateful for is the group I joined. It's only a block away from my building which makes it easier for me on those nights when I would rather just stay home. This coming Friday is the group's 35th anniversary. There will be a major food fest afterwards. There is a lot of really good, long sobriety in the group and for me that means a lot of support. It's amazing to me the number of friends I.ve made who accept me as I am.

I am finally learning that it's okay to laugh at things that not that long ago I wouldn't have allowed myself to do. I'm also realizing that I can also trust others, tell them things that I thought I'd never be able to tell anyone else and not get laughed at.