The guy that chaired our meeting yesterday was a regular for a number of years before moving on to other groups. He has about seven years of sobriety and there were a surprising number of members in attendance with about the same amount. I love listening to people who have made it to that five to seven year window. I believe we lose sight of a lot of people then - not necessarily to drinking but often just to complacency and ennui - but the ones that stay seem to a member to pass through into a greater realm where I perceive a real deep sense of calmness and spiritual comfort instead of looking at recovery as a necessary track. It's so remarkable that I can see the peace reflected in their faces.
His informal nickname early on was Angry Chris because the dude was . . . well . . . pretty angry. I found out soon after that he didn't really like hugs so I made sure to hug him at least twice in each meeting and if I was chairing I announced that Chris really liked hugs. It was like hugging a board. Dude didn't move. He was not relaxed during the hugs. Then, a while later, I told him that I loved him. The expression on his face! Like I passed gas that was so offensive as to be almost lethal. Then guess what I did? Went out of my way to express my affection when I saw him and when he was leaving. That's my specialty - finding a sore spot and probing it over and over. Yesterday he hugged me first and he told me he loved me.
Great, wondrous shit, man. Unbelievable shit.
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