Monday, September 17, 2007

Integrity ...




is the fifth principle behind the Twelve Steps of Alcohol Anonymous.

I am a nut about following the rules. This can be evidenced by the fact that I was a baseball umpire for a decade. I also officiated a number of other sports, but not as obsessively. I knew the rule book (which is quite complicated) forward and backward.

I try to take the concept of honesty seriously. I try to obey the rules and the law. When I screw up (I often do), I don't try to hide it (usually). There's still a lot of room for improvement here. But becuase I am sober, I am aware of this need to improve and am also able to make progress from time to time.

If you must judge me, please make that judgement by my actions rather than my words.


todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that Saturday was my friend Sonny's twenty-fifth sober anniversary -- Sonny runs Lambda Center as its only full-time employeee for the past 20? years

for a beautiful weather day on Sunday, although we stayed home and had a quiet day

for my relationship with my sponsor -- he DOES NOT try to run my life nor would I allow that. He knows my story and he knows me. I can talk to him without reservation about anything and I think he feels that he can confide in me too. He gives me suggestions and then lets me decide what to do. This is my idea of the proper AA sponsor-sponsee relationship.

that Hayden and I have recently spent a lot of quality time together

that I have now owned my home for 4 years -- I closed on it Sept 15, 2003 and moved in on Sept 20th -- just a few days after getting sober

In pursuit of happiness, the difficulty lies in knowing when you have caught up.
-R.H. Grenville

BY THE WAY - on Saturday, I received the much-and-always coveted
Inspirational Blogger Award from Pam



8 comments:

Pammie said...

Hi darlin', I loved the quote at the bottom! I have the same kind of sponsor (thank goodness). And you know what? I too, hope to be judged (if one must) by my actions, and not my words. Excellent post for me today! (you did post just for me...right?)

Scott W said...

I got one of those, too, but I chose the black background.

Mary Gee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary Christine said...

I can relate to the rule following. It is a blessing and a curse.

Syd said...

Rules ran my life. Now I've broken most of them and decided that there is a middle of the road. The steps are basically the rules that I use now to get me through life.

tkdjunkie said...

Baseball umpire? Cool! I love baseball ...

And congrats on the award too :)

Sober @ Sundown said...

Hi dAAve,

Congrats on the award!

"Excellence, then, is not an act, it is a habit." love that quote.

Steve said...

I thought you may be interested in this:

It’s called called Queer Deviations. It’s a multi-authored blog for gays and lesbians. It’s catered to those living with either a physical or mental illness; or a substance abuse issue. It serves as a place for writers to discuss their problems (outside of their primary blogs). It also benefits readers, who may be experiencing similar concerns. If you feel this sort of blog matches your interests, & would like to contribute; leave a comment on the blog.

Steve

http://diamondexperiment.wordpress.com/2006/06/13/join/