I Went Back to My Neighbor Instead of the Store - AA Speaker - Carla R.

Carla’s first real turn toward AA came when she went back to her sober neighbor instead of the store and began learning how to live with the head she had to take home.

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Carla shares with sharp humor and honesty about growing up restless and afraid, being institutionalized as a teenager, living on the road, becoming a mother, and watching alcohol defeat every attempt at a fresh start. Her first AA meeting only gave her another idea for controlling her drinking, but eighteen months later a sober neighbor arrived with a Big Book, a Twelve and Twelve, and a story Carla could recognize. After a difficult final withdrawal, Carla went to that neighbor instead of the store, found a home group, got a sponsor, worked the Steps, and felt the obsession begin to lift while making amends. She also speaks carefully about repairing her relationship with her daughter, facing a violent trauma at five years sober, finding a path toward forgiveness through page 67, rebuilding without drinking when sobriety still became difficult, and deepening her practice of prayer and meditation. This is an AA talk about showing up, allowing the awakening to continue, and discovering that the present moment might hold a possibility she once could not imagine: what if this goes well?

Carla R. from Tujunga, CA speaking at the Joy of Living Convention in Aspen, CO - October 5th 2013

Music: Deep by KaizanBlu