Are they taking your inventory? Are they judging you?

[Dallas]

[b]“Do you feel like they are taking your inventory?
Are they taking your inventory? Are they judging you?â€

[Rusty Zipper]

for me, it took a lot of hurt, anger frustration, resentments and more to learn one important thing.... i can only be responsible for me... anything other than that, i'm head'n for trouble.... agw & gol, Rusty

[918gma]

One of the first principles of AA that I became very aware of is principles not personalities. When I go to A meeting, I try to listen with an open mind. If some one says some things that makes me wiggle in my chair a little, I try to figure that it is what I was suppose to hear that day. It's not always easy and requires conscious effort at times, but its helped me. I also found out that not everyone is talking about me. What a shock that was.

[anniemac]

Thanks for that story, Dallas. Just the other night a woman shared that in all her years sober, life has not gotten better at all...she has just learned to react better to life.

I wondered ~ have I just been so very incredibly fortunate in my brief time in AA, that my both my attitude and my life have gotten so much better? Or, and really this is not to toot my horn, is it simply that I am doing my best to live the principles of the Steps on a daily basis?

I don't get it, when folks say their life hasn't gotten better. I don't mean materially; I mean the cause and effect of the Universe, that ripple effect that if I put out positive, I get positive in return. That if I look for faults I find faults, but if I focus on the good in the world, that's what my world consists of.

Dunno, maybe I've just been lucky.

And, I just love (insert some New York sarcasm here) hearing folks at meetings share how they are not happy, joyous and free, and their life is just "ok".....and knowing that they have not done any Step work. yes, I just took someone else's inventory

[Dallas]

Thank you for sharing, Anne!

A beloved old-timer from New York, who was a member of my home group, always finished his sharing with "it just keeps gettin' betta, and betta and betta and betta!"

I thank God I finally figured out that he really meant what he was saying, and that it's offered that way to us, too! And, most of all... I'm grateful to have been able to watch him, and learn what he was doing!

Yesterday, I left a meeting in an old-timers home. He lives out in the country. I got caught in a terrible thunderstorm right after I left the meeting, and the sky had turned so black, and the rain was so hard, blowing at 70 mph... sideways... that I couldn't see further than my hood!

There wasn't any place to take cover or park and wait it out. I couldn't even see the road to find the side of it.

My hope for a way to deal with the situation showed up as a semi-truck came rolling down the highway, and he had his emergency flashers on. I could only hope and pray that he could see better than I could!

I crawled out onto the highway and tried to stay glued to his bumper... close enough so that periodically I could see his flashing lights. (It was a really bad storm).

I followed him for about 12 miles until I could find a place where I could pull off the highway and take cover.

After I got safely home... I did a bit of reflecting... and the metaphor of the storm dawned on me... that this was just like A.A. Kind of like, a member who had gotten to A.A. before I did, was out in front of me trudging through life's storms... and the glimmer of the flashing tail lights made me think of the example that he or she was leaving for me... so that I could follow behind, as they left a path that I could follow... which provided me with a safer way to safety.

I walked out on my porch and looked up into the sky and saw the most beautiful full color radiant rainbow that I have ever seen in my life. It was just awesome. Then, I noticed, that there was another faint looking rainbow, that was very close to the first rainbow... almost as it was following close behind it. Two rainbows... side by side.

I was speechless. In awe and amazed. It made me think that "there really is a God, that does look out for us, and he uses others to help us find our way." One may be able to make it... but it sure is nicer to travel in twos!

Dallas