What's that you say?

Listen: To make a conscious to hear; attend closely, so as to hear.

I'm always a little suspicious of my motives when I share at a meeting. I think that I enjoy being on the Big Stage enthralling a captive audience with amazing stories of my profound recovery. After all, most people sit there and listen politely, or pretend to listen politely, at least. No one has ever told me to shut up -- not loud enough for me to hear, anyway. I have not been heckled or hit with rotten fruit hurled from the back row. I'm pretty agile -- I have been able to duck when I see a tomato coming my way. It's a legacy from all of the shucking and jiving and juking that I used to do.

I have a tendency to exaggerate. It's very hard for me to share my story in a simple, unembellished manner. When I talk about my drinking exploits, I want to impress people with how bad they were, when mostly I got drunk by myself in front of the television. I try too hard to be funny -- it's OK to make people laugh but this isn't the Improv. There aren't any executives from NBC in the audience scouting out talent for a new sitcom. Worst of all, I told so many lies when I was drinking that I believe some of them to this day. They have become embedded deep in my self-conscious. Sometimes I think: "Why am I telling this story? I don't think I ever got married to a jungle princess in Madagascar."

I help myself more by listening.