Slogans

In many 12 Step meetings you will see what are called slogans displayed on the wall. In my area we often have people give their interpretation of slogans - what the saying means to them and how they work these into their lives. Here are some of my favourites with my own interpretation.

Keep an Open Mind:
Often people come into a 12 Step meeting and after seeing or hearing the word God their mind shuts down and they don't listen to what is being said. I have to keep an open mind in order to grow and change. If I don't change my dry date will. Luckily for me when I entered my first 12 Step meeting I had hit such a rock bottom that my mind was open and I was willing to listen to anything and do anything those helping me wanted me to do. Keeping an open mind is especially important as I earn more and more clean time. There's a saying, the farther I'm away from my last drink the closer I am to my next. This tells me not to rest on my laurels and to keep an open mind that I still don't have all the answers.

Remember When:
Remember when allows to me keep identifying with the newcomer (a new person walking into the 12 Step rooms for the first time). I remember when I couldn't go two hours without a drink or drug. I remember being selfish and self-centered. I remember walking into my first meeting shaking and scared. Remember when is a good tool to help with my recovery but it won't keep me sober. Part of the disease of addiction is that when I want to use my brain doesn't remember the bad stuff that happened only that first drink or drug. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous tells me that, "the alcoholic cannot remember with sufficient force the pain or suffering of a month or a week ago. We are without defense against the first drink". I know that there will come a time in my life where the only thing between me and that next drink/drug is a higher power of my own understanding.

Keep it Simple:
Alcoholics/addicts are people who like to complicate things. We'll take the simplest thing and worry/analyze the hell out of it. I have to keep things simple. When it comes to working the 12 Steps I keep it simple by following the directions laid down in the Big Book. I don't read between the lines. I only read the black lettering not the white spaces.

First Things First:
The first thing in my life I have to remember is my sobriety comes before anything. It comes before family, friends and work. The reason for this is that without my sobriety I won't have family, friends or work. I have proven over and over again that when I'm actively drinking/using the only thing I care about is self-medicating.

Around the Fellowship or In The Fellowship:
I have to be a part of the Fellowship. There are three things that help me remain sober: recovery (the 12 Steps); Unity (the Fellowship); Service (helping others). I have to remain part of a fellowship for I could not stay sober by myself. When I am around fellow alcoholic/addicts I am with people who understand me and my crazy thinking. I always tell newcomers that when I got sober I would come a half-an-hour early to meetings and stay for a bit afterwards. This was so I could talk to others and either share or listen to a problem. A problem shared is a problem halved.

Under Every Dress There is a SLIP (Sobriety Loses It's Priority):
A slip means one has relapsed, fallen off the wagon, picked up, etc. etc. A good rule of thumb is to not enter into a new relationship the first year of sobriety. Relationships can cause great stress and turmoil and if one is not sufficiently grounded then a relationship could lead to relapse. (The female equivalent of this slogan is: Under Every Pair of Trousers is a Lower Power).


One Day at A Time:
Perhaps the most famous slogan, One Day at a Time, reminds me that I can go a whole day without self-medicating. My first two attempts at sobriety did not work because I was always worried about what I was going to do when I couldn't drink/drug on my birthday, holidays, etc. It wasn't until I realized that I only had to worry about going 24 hours without self-medicating because my birthday, holidays etc. had not come yet. I was wasting energy on tomorrow and not living in the present. I have to remember I'm a human being not a human doing.

These are just a few of the great slogans I've seen over the years that I have been in long-term recovery. But for the Grace of God go I.
Dave the Dude