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Daily Reflection 29 SEP 2016

EXACTLY ALIKE
Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.
— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89
A man came to the meeting drunk, interrupted the speakers, stood up and took his shirt off, staggered loudly back and forth for coffee, demanded to talk, and eventually called the group's secretary an unquotable name and walked out. I was glad he was there – once again I saw what I had been like. But I also saw what I still am, and what I still could be. I don't have to be drunk to want to be the exception and the center of attention. I have often felt abused and responded abusively when I was simply being treated as a garden variety human being. The more the man tried to insist he was different, the more I realized that he and I were exactly alike.
Yikes. I honestly don't have anything else to add because this says it perfectly.  I'm no special snowflake.  An alcoholic is an alcoholic. Learning to accept that I'm no different than anyone else in the meeting rooms has been a challenge but rewarding. I feel like I'm not just healing; I'm growing the fuck up.

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