Browsing all posts in April, 2009.

Talking to Someone Who Isn’t Quite Ready

As recovering people there are times when we find ourselves working with someone we can see is struggling. We recognize the sign’s more quickly than others because we recognize ourselves. The challenge is knowing when and how to reach out.
When the person is a co- worker it can be a very touchy situation. It’s critical [...]

Sitting on the Pity Pot

We all know what it feels like: woe is me, everything always happens to me, why me?!!
Sometimes we forget what it looks like to other people. Bleck.
I remember a writing teacher once saying, “The one thing you never want your hero to do is wallow in self-pity.” Why? Because self-pity is annoying. Who wants to [...]

Helping Set Up at Meetings

Why is it important to volunteer to set up meeting chairs, make coffee, or clean up after a meeting? One of the things that happens to us when we are actively drinking or using is that we become very isolated. We also become very self-centered. By offering to do something to benefit others, we become [...]

In Praise of NYC Meetings…sigh

When I first moved from NYC to Los Angeles, I couldn’t stand the 20-minute readings at the beginning of every meeting. It seemed too ritualized, almost like church. In New York City the meetings are fast and furious, hard-hitting, lots of raw talk for maybe 1 minute from a dozen people.  In Los Angeles the [...]

Please Take Your Cute Phrases and Shove ‘em…

OK, some of us just have a hard time with what we see as trite truisms and cringe every time we here “just for today,” “keep it simple stupid/silly,” and all the other regularly blurted expressions. We see them as glib, simplistic answers to life’s complex problems.
Frankly, I still get a little irked when I [...]