Unvarnished Truth

 I like the phrase "Design for Living."  Alcoholics Anonymous has given me a Design for Living.  I wouldn't have stuck around for very long unless there was a practical application clearly spelled out to help me try to corral my messed-up life.

I like the easy terms we're given for developing a relationship with a Higher Power.  There are some examples in the literature of people having the so-called White Light experience, where God consciousness arrives in the form of a sudden realization, but most of us come to have an awakening of the "educational variety."

Early on in my sobriety I was often asked: "How are things going for you right now?  Not good?  Then maybe you should try something else for a change."  I had no snappy comeback to that line.

My problems, I think, are mostly of my own making.  My current nom de plume when I'm on a Zoom Meeting is "Swims Against the Current Steve."  I'm often the guy who walks up to the river, sees a lovely vista downstream and raging whitewater upstream, and starts swimming against the current.  Sanctimonious Steve and Self-Righteous Steve were also fan favorites.

I like the fact that I have a ton of long-term friends.  These guys are not afraid that they're going to hurt my feelings.  It doesn't happen often but sometimes I get the unvarnished truth when, honestly, I would have preferred some varnish.