The Old Cajun reflects on sobriety and life in general........

I have seen sober people at every meeting I have attended. Every person there was a living example of the 12 steps at work. If I am burned up, indignant, frustrated over what is shared or how the meeting is run I need to look at myself. If members are not tying everything in their lives back to the 12 steps, is that a bad meeting? Where do I get the ego to criticize others? In my zeal to carry the message, am I distracted from that duty because others are not doing it my way? Every person who studies the book and the steps interprets them differently, that fact is inescapable and undeniable. Every event in my life has shaped, in some way, the words I am typing now. If I find fault with another's approach, interpretation, or practice then humility is only a theory in my life. Judging people by what they say in a meeting is like judging a film by one frame. Thanks to all who post here, ESPECIALLY those who disagree with me. I don't learn anything from those whose methods and beliefs are a mirror of my own. The absence of at least occasional discomfort in sobriety is not my goal, sobriety is not a chair to sit in but a field to be planted, cared for and harvested, over and over again to sustain my life. Sober on, my brothers and sisters, never hesitate to challenge beliefs and practices, especially your own!