First Things First ....

[anniemac]

First Things First has taken on additional meanings for me as I continue to stay sober. As Dallas and Anne said, First Thing is that I am an alcoholic and if I forget to treat my alcoholism, I have nothing else.

As the years go by, First Things First reminds me to keep my priorities straight. I can be projecting about how I'm going to manage to go to Graduate school while working full time and keeping my meetings up; but I'm still 3 years away from a Bachelors'; so, First Things First, keep putting one foot in front of the other and plug away at the task at hand; the future has a way of falling in to place when I take care of today.

So, this is a slogan I can "grow" with - from my first day in AA, onward.

[Dallas]

Hey Amy....
You've heard from some of us...
It's your turn!
What does "First Things First"
mean to you?

Dallas

[Amy S]

I guess to me First Things First means that you put whatever is most important to you before anything else. Right now what's most important to me is staying clean and sober. I have a lot going on in my life but the one thing that stays constant is my desire to stay sober, it's the one thing I am able to stay focused on.

[garden variety]

Hi all,

Count me in with Amy. Bless your heat.

First things first means to me: Sobriety before anything else.

It could be said other ways, but "Sobriety" is the beautiful thing that is more than a gift. It's something that has to be "achieved" which means that it becomes the main piece of work in my life every day. The "gift" I get with Sobriety is Grace and Mercy from an unconditional loving God of my understanding. But He still expects me to do the things I can do - God is a busy Being. So I need to do my part, and my part is:

-Making a decision to change (Step 3)
-Launching into action (Step 4, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12)
-Being fit for maximum service to God and my fellows (Step 11, 12)

So for each day "First Things First" means putting "Sobriety" on the top of any list I make that day.

[carol1017]

For me, "First Things First" ABSOLUTELY means keeping my sobriety at the top of my list.

Early in sobriety, a friend told me that SLIP meant Sobriety Lost Its Priority, and I have seen that happen with others many times.

Maintaining my sobriety has to be my number one priority.

[rockingchair]

I sure appreciate what everybody has said about FIRST THINGS FIRST!

Ive found that no matter how long I am in the program, if I don't remember every single day to put FIRST THINGS FIRST (meaning to do the things that I have been taught to do to maintain my sobriety - like go to a meeting, call my sponsor, work on the steps, maintain my conscious contact with my higher power), at the very least I will become a raving lunatic before you know it - and at the worst, I am putting myself in danger ofl picking up a drink. It is as simple as that.

It is amazing how incredibly good my life is when I have my priorities straight. So, I don't know why from time to time, I forget how important FIRST THINGS FIRST is.

I get in too much of a rush to ask my hp for help in the morning...I am far too busy to take a few minutes to read a morning meditation and think about it...I begin to think I don't need to call my sponsor and for that matter, I am just too tired to go to a meeting...I get back to running the show, managing my life and, of course, telling others what they need to be doing, because, after all, I am an expert on what everybody else needs to be doing in their lives. And then, I wonder why I am restless, irritable and extremely discontented.

This program really works if I take a little time each day to work it!

Rockin in the rockingchair

[Dallas]

Thank you Ruthie, for a great message to start my day!!! It was almost like you read my heart and my mind!

I've observed that sometimes with myself my life starts getting real good and I get better and better and better. Then, almost like predictable clock-work -- I begin to slack off in doing the things that have made my life so good... and suddenly, the creepy crawlies crawl back in, and things begin to back-fire in my life ... and, I'm asking "how did that happen?"

Everyday is a day when I really have to work at structure and discipline.

"We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined."

My daily Step-work in Steps 10 & 11... was what was just outlined from page 83-88, Big Book.

Followed with:

"But this is not all. There is action and more action. Faith without works is dead. The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve." (page 88 Big Book)...........

What a gift!!! To wake up in the morning with an instruction manual, that reads like .... follow the dots and your life will get better! And, to retire at night with ... follow the dots and you'll get better! It doesn't take much more than that to have a real Design For Living that works!!!

Dallas