CRA Christians in Recovery (anonymous)

Hello everyone, Bob invited me here after I shared my testimony in the testimonies forum.
You can check it out here: https://christianchat.com/testimonies/my-testimony.184985/

1 Peter 5:6 - Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Matthew 23:12 - And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Romans 12:3 - For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

James 4:10 - Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Thank you for sharing. In leu of an amen button I use the green check mark. Keep comming back.

Here is something I found very beautiful and felt I should share with you.

"The AA Way Of Life, As Bill Sees It"

COULD YOU JUST LISTEN?

~When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving me advice, you have not done what I asked.
~When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel the way I do, you are trampling on my feelings.
~When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
~LISTEN! All I asked was that you listen, not to talk or do, just hear me!
~Advice is cheap, 25 cents will get me both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.
~I can do for myself, I am not helpless maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.
~When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
~But when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince you and get on about the business of understanding what's behind my irrational feeling. When that's clear, the answers are obvious and I don't need advice.
~Irrational feelings make more sense when we understand what's behind them.
~Perhaps that's why Prayer works, sometimes, for some people, because GOD is mute, and doesn't give advice and try to fix things. GOD just listens!
~I already know the Spiritual Truth that the solution to all my problems lies within.
~So, if I do hear GOD, it is a still, small voice from within myself, which, if I will but listen to it, gives me the answers that I am seeking.
~Please just listen and hear me.
~And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn and I'll listen to you.

Author Anonymous

Drunk talk. "There's more old drunks than old Doctors." "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

Truth talk, many old Doctors are old drunks. Too many bottles can be as bad as a lobotomy.

Good morning, I still calibob, I still in recovery and still sober and mostly sane. I thought I'd share today about a often overlooked piece of treatment advise I once got from a doctor about recovery nutrition. It's vitamin 'B' My shrink at the VA prescribed Folic acid 400 mg and niacin. You should see a doctor to insure your liver function's well before taking B3 (niacin) but I've found they greatly help stave off depression and help prevent relapse and restore energy levels. In fact I now take super 'B' complex every other day, (Because it is slightly irritating to the urinary tract) but it noticeably helps my attitude and outlook. They're inexpensive too. This meeting is open.

From Discovery house.>
The Benefits of Vitamin B-Complex to Recovering Addicts


While substance abuse creates an illusory sense of temporary well-being, in the end it can severely damage physical, psychological, and spiritual health. Research has shown that individuals with substance addictions may very likely be suffering from an assortment of one or more metabolic disorders such as hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism, vitamin B deficiency and mineral deficiencies. The benefits of vitamin B Complex for those in recovery are that it restores the natural balance of the vitamins which have been burnt up with substance abuse.
People who are dependent on drugs or alcohol lack the ability to voluntarily cut down or stop, and develop a physical tolerance, which means they require increasingly large amounts to become intoxicated. This addictive type of substance abuse will chemically disrupt many naturally occurring vitamins and minerals which promote a healthy brain and nervous system. For example, Thiamine (B1) deficiency is common in long-term alcohol abuse and over time, has the potential to cause nerve damage without treatment.
Vitamin B complex plays an important role in keeping our bodies running well, providing energy to our metabolic system, nervous system and giving fuel to our neurotransmitters, encouraging our decision making and reflex ability. The deficiency of B vitamins in people who use excessive amounts of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, or drugs can contribute to withdrawal symptoms and is believed to be part of the physiological draw to addictive substances.

Whole grains, peanuts, beans, spinach, kale, almonds, wild rice, milk, yogurt, eggs, Brussels sprouts, spinach and soybeans are all food rich in B-vitamins. The benefits of vitamin B Complex are optimal neurological functioning of brain, increased memory and concentration and promoting antioxidants and digestive functioning. In order to achieve a healthy balance in recovery, it’s important to include a nutritional evaluation, and treat the body and mind with care.

"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.
To solve our problems we MUST rise to a level of consciousness above our norm.
For some of us that level is one of humble sober-minded Spiritual Awareness.
The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance, and even our very existence depends on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to our lives."
~~'Thank God for AA, my sponsor and a sober life'~~
'Praise God'

Thank you for sharing. Who's next?

I admit I have a problem with the bdf forums

I admit my excessive dependence on it, and reading the Bible for myself would be a healthier habit

I need the help of the higher power for this

General William Booth was an industrial age missionary to the homeless, alcoholics, Opium addicts, prostitutes and children enslaved by work houses in the 19th century. He and his wife were co founders of the original Salvation Army in 1865. starting in lower London ghettos like White Chapel where Jack the ripper ran amok. When we give credit to Bill W., Dr. Bob S., and all of the rest who started AA resulting in myriad of recovery programs let's not forget the Methodist preacher that decided, it's shameful to preach salvation to the saved in church while ignoring scores of scores, dying in the streets. They put shoe leather to cobblestone and took the ministry to the needy and loved the unlovely. They reached out to and down to anyone who would accept a hand up. Here's something General Booth said.>

"To get a man soundly saved it is not enough to put on him a pair of new breeches, (britches) to give him regular work, or even to give him a University education. These things are all outside a man, and if the inside remains unchanged you have wasted your labor. You must in some way or other graft upon the man's nature a new nature, which has in it the element of the Divine." - William Booth

Remember that when we remember who payed it foreword for us. And do the same in step 12.

Having had a spiritual awakening as a results of these steps, we try to carry the message to those who still suffer, and to practice these principals in all our affairs.

AA Big Book, 4th edition, page 133;>

Now about health: A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. But we have seen remarkable transformations in our bodies. Hardly one of our crowd now shows any mark of dissipation.


But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward.

We, who have recovered, are miracles of mental health. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good Doctor or Psychiatrist. . For Anonymous?

I realized before I got clean that my health was suffering and I needed to do something about it. One of the first things I did along those lines was to give up red meat for a few years, and at the same time started eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as supplementing my diet with nutritional supplements and vitamins. I read a lot about health issues, and even considered changing careers, to the alternative healing side of things, except at that same time our government was foolishly considering removing Vitamin C from our store shelves, claiming that we were not qualified to diagnose ourselves... which seemed absolutely ridiculous to me on both counts. Their solution? To force people to go to a doctor (when our medical system is already overloaded) to get Vitamin C prescribed to them, in doses laughably small.

When I first went to NA and heard the line from one of the regular readings, about how we did not realize we were sick people until after we got there, I always thought, nope, that does not apply to me. I went specifically because I realized I was sick in more than my body. In fact, I had been looking for help for many years, and did not truly find it until I cried out to God for help. That was when I put down the mind and mood altering substances, but even then, it took me many months and even years, to realize how sick I truly was.

By the grace of God I was delivered of substance abuse, and started learning about how I was sick in my mind and spirit also. I praise God for delivering me, and opening my eyes to the truth And giving me the principles of the program to live by

AA, NA, CA, CMA, DRA, EA, GA, OEA... Are not, never were and never should be exclusive clubs intended only for socialization or telling drunk-a-logs and or war stories without any recover talk in them. Sure, there's a place for them and newcomers can relate and become more comfortable with pouring out their hearts.. But what happened, what we have learned and what it's like now must be shared too. The reason is simple. Not to get stuck on stupid, and it helps us to help others, or else there would only be 11 steps.

Step 1, 2 & 3 makes us admit reality and come to God. 4 & 5 makes us face the past and ourselves. In 6 & 7 we lay it at Gods feet. 8 & 9 helps us to forgive ourselves and practice the same forgiveness to others 10 & 11 are for daily maintenance and step 12 is paying it forward. That's how it works when work it!

Any Questions? I'm calibob, addict, Clinically depressive Christian in recovery. This meeting is open!

I tried to take some inventory on why ...

... I think I seek answers from others to make sure I'm on the right track, or if my thoughts are inspiring, in any way, hmm ...