Baffled Stevie

Promise:  An oath or affirmation; a vow.

Often we'll conclude a meeting by reading a section from the Big Book commonly referred to as The Promises.  Why do we call them The Promises?  Well, probably because the text asks: "Are these extravagant promises?"  That's the key phrase.  Alcoholics don't listen or pay attention so anything important has to be stated plainly and clearly, using a loud voice and simple language.

Here's one of the best Promises: "We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us." P 84 BB.

Intuition:  Immediate cognition without the use of conscious rational processes; a perceptive insight gained by use of this faculty.

Boy, was there ever a long last of situations that used to baffle me.  I was easily baffled.  In fact, one of my nicknames is Baffled Steve.  

Baffle:  To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex.

Do I act or do I wait?  

One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes revolves around the flawed character George.  He's in the midst one of his typical runs of terrible bad luck, a state of affairs that he's too myopic to see is his own damn fault.  One day, at lunch, he orders the exact opposite of the meal he orders every single day.  This attracts the attention of a beautiful woman who has just ordered the the identical meal.  Henceforth and forever more, he decides to do the opposite of what he normally does.  What happens?  Well, everything goes his way - he gets the woman, he gets the job, he finds $20 on the ground, everything begins to come up roses.  

I'll tell you - I get it.  I didn't have a great track record of making good decisions when I was drinking so I started out by not doing anything when I felt like I should do something and doing anything when I had no idea what I should do.  I figured the exact opposite would be the smartest move and I wasn't often disappointed.