Here’s an important principle for me to remember: “Selfishness—self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.” (AA 62)
As I worked the Steps, I had difficulty staying focused because I had looked ahead and knew Step Nine was in my future, and I was scared. My sponsor kept telling me, “Don’t worry. When you get to Step Nine, you will be ready.”
I grew up in India with a devout Hindu mother, an atheist physician father, Muslim friends, and attending a Catholic boarding school. Although I was exposed to multiple faith traditions growing up, I never considered myself religious and rarely thought deeply about God. I would occasionally selfishly pray before exams.
When I was sixteen years old I was caught having sex with my girlfriend. We had skipped school and headed to my house. A few hours later my parents came through the door. I was busted. I remember the embarrassment, anger, and disappointment I saw on my parents’ faces. At sixteen I was a full blown sexaholic, I just didn’t know it yet.
Two weeks ago I had cataract surgery in my right eye. It was easy and painless, and I recommend it. The additional benefit was that it changed my way of looking at things. All I have to do right now to see the change is to close my right eye and look at the world…dark, blurry and yellow-tinged. This is my old way of seeing things. Then I close my old eye and look at the world through my corrected lens…light, clear and sharp.
Deep down I knew what was happening inside, but now it is time to swallow my pride.
WOMEN SA MEMBERS!! There’s a great new service project being worked on, and we need YOUR help!
I fell hard into the Internet. There I found a world where forbidden things were freely available. At first, I enjoyed this secret place where there was no right or wrong. So I stayed there longer and longer each day. Before long, my seemingly harmless online meetings turned into infidelities. I cheated frequently, after more than fifteen years of faithful marriage.
From the time I was a kid I never liked teams. I didn’t want to lose because some teammate screwed up. If I messed up a bunch of people would hate me for making them lose. And if I’m the prime factor in helping a team win, the credit will be spread out among a bunch of others. By my logic it was better to solo have the credit and control of winning or losing.
The Finance Committee is in the process of issuing the service committees call for their proposed 2019 budget requests. These proposed budget requests are due April 1, 2018. The 2018 proposed budget is planned to be presented to the GDA Delegates at their face-to-face meeting at the July 2018 Saint Louis convention.
