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Sober Talk SA - Davo · Sober Talk SA

• 0:00
  Welcome to Sober Talk. I'm Dennis and I'm an alcoholic.
• 0:04
  Soap to dear thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous.
• 0:08
  If you or anyone you know is struggling with alcohol, please
• 0:11
  call Alcoholics Anonymous on 1300 double 22222.
• 0:17
  I'll visit their website ata.org dot AU.
• 0:24
  I'll just run through the preamble of Alcoholics
• 0:27
  Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous is a
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  fellowship of people who share the experience, strengthen hope
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  with each other that they may solve their common problems, and
• 0:37
  help with us to recover from alcoholism.
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  The only requirement for membership is the desire to stop
• 0:43
  drinking and no dues of fees. Fair membership.
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  We are self supporting through our own contributions.
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  He is not alive with any sect in immersion politics, organization
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  or institution, Does not wish to engage in any controversy,
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  either endorses or oppose any causes.
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  Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other Alcoholics.
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  Are chief sobriety good? Friends, my name's David.
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  I'm an alcoholic. And then nothing like short
• 1:14
  motors. Looking for Finn, has it turned
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  up? So I just have to put up with me
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  for the next 30 minutes or so, just checking my heart rate.
• 1:21
  That's where you are it's pretty nervous it's OK to get nervous.
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  I'm an alcoholic Did I say that I got a Home group It's prompted
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  the beginners very grateful. I've got a service role within
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  that group and I had a sponsor today just catch and base my
• 1:35
  sponsor then and I like what he says.
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  What comes from the heart touches the heart is a beautiful
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  man and the best. I believe all Alcoholics, once
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  they reach the rooms of Alcoholics and also have hope
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  will no longer hopeless. And you know, I I've never
• 1:53
  knocked back an opportunity to grow in alcohol.
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  It's anonymous. So my head wanted to say no, but
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  my heart overruled. I believe that's some good
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  sponsorship and from good people around me.
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  And, you know, I don't know if I got opportunity to grow today,
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  you know, I guess often was wouldn't we just share about
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  what it's like what happened was like now hopefully, you know,
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  I'll share what what that is tonight.
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  And for you who don't, namely, well, I guess it gives you an
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  opportunity to to know a little bit about me and take what you
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  need to leave the rest. I look for all the differences
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  and not the similarities when I arrive Apovox and honest.
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  So I come with this wheels, you know, and speak confused child.
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  Don't know whether it's alcoholic, but I know it was
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  different when I was growing up. As I often say, I come into this
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  world. I spun around three times and
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  pushed off into life. Where do I go?
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  What do I do, you know, looking for my father to give me that
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  role model. They drank a lot.
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  I don't know he's alcoholic, but he do I do this.
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  I believe he died this disease when I stopped at 10:16 and I
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  didn't ask that much. All I wondered I was just please
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  show me how to protect myself when I go to school and I was
• 3:02
  getting bullied, you know, but I know he had he had his issues.
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  I guess knowing as a 12 year old, you don't know what that
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  is. But just walking off into life
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  thinking what's what's wrong with me?
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  You know, why can't I make friends, you know, moving
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  schools four or five times. You know what, hard to make
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  friends, but this for me the only way I could actually, I
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  started making friends in life. So I found sport, you know, and
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  I think at the age it was about it was 197576.
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  So I was about 9 and there's three brothers.
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  It was my younger brother and older brother and my youngest,
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  my sister was here's your baby. Last three boys were sent off to
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  a rocket boys home. My cousin was a was a nun and I
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  guess nun put us in there for two years so she could sort out
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  a life, you know, And once at that stage, we'd moved away from
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  dad because he was our crutch as Alcoholics do have.
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  And while we're there, she says you've got to play a sport.
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  So she took us into the shooting and was always sporting there.
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  And I picked up this hockey stick and I found my freedom in
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  life walking over that red line, that pitch and I could play well
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  and I could do really well at that.
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  And people, you know, I appreciated that and I started
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  to fit in and, and I did really well in life with that, you
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  know, and it was like I was starting to, people started to
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  like me. And that was a really different
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  feeling because, you know, all I ever wanted in life was to be
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  happy and have a few friends. But it was truly hard to find
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  that. It was really hard to find that,
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  you know, and when I guess it was life went on, you know,
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  it's, it's common. I hear in, in the rooms that
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  they all, you know, you get bullied at school, you get
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  picked on you, you know, at times I, I didn't go to school,
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  you know, I played sick and I went home.
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  Now it's the next day and because I knew that I was I was
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  going to get picked on and I didn't have a real lot of
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  friends that it to sort of defend me and I was cool, but
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  it's the way it was. You know, I guess I was the
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  doormat for most of my life till I got into sobriety early into
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  sobriety. I I just hated the world.
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  You know, that's so pleased to be that's the reality of it.
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  It's part of my journey. I, we never had much growing up,
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  but that was OK because, you know, we, we guess we had a
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  family where mum used to say, you know, was always people
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  worse off than us. You know, you got clothes on
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  your, on your back, you got food on the table, you got a roof
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  over your head. And I guess the simplistic, my
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  mum used to have really simplistic peers on life.
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  You know, I grew up, thank God, my mum passed away, I think
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  earlier last year in February. But I grew up with the models
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  that I keep today, like, you know, use your manners, you
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  know, always treat people like you want to be treated yourself,
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  You know, didn't like the word hate.
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  We didn't want to use the word hate, you know, and now I guess
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  I don't really have that, that word in my life today.
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  I don't really hate people, just probably at times I despise
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  people, But I've got to look at myself when I'm seeing that in
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  other people. I, my dad was a Baker and all I
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  ever want to do since the age of 12 was cook.
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  And those people that that know me in Alcoholics Anonymous know
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  that food was pretty much so my passion.
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  And that still is to a degree today.
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  And I'll, I'm not in the industry anymore, but we're in
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  that trade. But for a lot of times I've done
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  a lot of service for Alcoholics and I'm especially in my early
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  days up in Newcastle and NSW where I thought saver and I do a
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  lot of rallies and at Morissette, Pete and Marissette.
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  So got a lot of good bond memories of people that were
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  early in my sobriety. I used to help out, said it was
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  good because I could give back, you know, and it's, and it was
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  nothing in return. I didn't expect any return.
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  I just did that because, you know, alcohol probably, you
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  know, probably took that off me for a long time.
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  But definitely the only part of my career which I'll get to as
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  part of my my story that, you know, as I grew up and went
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  through high school, I did the stop and I continued to the
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  bullying didn't wasn't as much earlier in my my later years.
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  I started to slowly sort of stand up for myself a little
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  bit. But time, you know, through
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  adversity. It's it's you know, mum used to
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  save me. It happens for a reason, But
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  sometimes I used to question gold, even though I grew up as a
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  Catholic or if you want to put a landing Catholic that I grew up,
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  you know, knowing that God is everywhere and God doesn't do
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  anything bad. And you know, I lost, I lost my
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  brother at the age of 14, three days before his 8th birthday.
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  And that was pretty horrific. And then three years later,
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  almost three years later, I lose dad.
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  So I guess that's just the hand I'm dealt with in life, you
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  know, and have I really dealt with that?
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  Probably not in total. I guess it's still that some of
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  that stuff that some of that growth I still need to go
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  through. And well, it's anonymous.
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  It's it's, you know, it's not a Sprint and it's a bit of a
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  marathon. But I've got to find that
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  balancing between being procrastinating and action,
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  somewhere in between, you know, wanting a balance in life.
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  And I've just celebrated my 32nd birthday last last month.
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  And it's like a reflection on that.
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  It's, you know, the older members say you don't, you know,
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  has always got to sign up. You know, I don't handle the
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  answers. I'll never have all the answers.
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  But if I need to, I can refer to that or my sponsor.
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  And today, if I'm offered a sponsor, I'll say to people I'm
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  sponsored because I won't sponsor anybody.
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  Amazon Sponsored, you know, I need to have that some, I need
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  to have that so I can go and ask my sponsor if I'd have all the
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  answers, I'll ask him. And if he doesn't know, you'll
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  ask his sponsor and so on. So that's been my journey as far
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  as sponsorship. Haven't had a good track record
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  with it. But the fact is I've been
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  willing to and it took me a long time and sobriety to be able to
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  sponsor anybody because I thought I wasn't good enough,
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  you know, like how do I do it? That shows being the 1st 106 to
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  4 pages how to do that in our programme of Alcoholics service.
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  The action plans and tweets about haven't done that.
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  You know, I don't use the word perfect.
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  It's not in my vocabulary. Perfection nearly killed me, you
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  know, because if everyone growing up, you know, I was just
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  well, such as just an angry person because I wanted
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  everything to be right because they didn't have had much.
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  I wanted everything, you know, because it was like, you know
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  why they got and I haven't got it.
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  So when I guess I try to be perfect in every way, but it
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  just, it just doesn't work. You know, it took me a long time
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  in my life to, to understand that it's, it's not about
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  perfection and it tells me in the big book and how it works.
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  So I was sitting in a meeting around 3 or 4 years in sobriety
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  and spiritual perfection of the spiritual progress and the light
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  come on my head thinking made over this, this try spiritual
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  progress. It might work that way.
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  You know what? And it does, but it's the
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  perfection thing because I'm as good as I am today, you know,
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  I'm, I try and be the best version of the day I am today.
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  My sponsor tells me you're a good man with a good heart.
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  She's trying to do the next right thing, you know, and, and
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  I'll do that without I'm, I'm, I'm hard wired for that today,
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  you know, I will do. I'll let Lilvy and I'll open the
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  door. You know, it's stuff I don't
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  think about doing. I do it because, you know, I do
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  it because I'm me, you know, and it's taken me a long time to
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  become that person. You know, I'm kind, I'm a
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  gentle, bit quirky, you know, but I guess they call it OCD.
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  But anyway, it's, it is what it is.
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  And, and I guess it's one of my partner, my girlfriend says,
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  well, that's one of the things I like about you.
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  But sometimes I think it's just, I'm getting a lot better than it
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  used to be. You know, the $2.00 don't have
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  to be straight, you know, the, the towels don't have to be
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  straight, you know. Well, just these things that you
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  have, you know, and it's like, and I'll get to my mileage.
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  I had a military career as well. And it's weird still followed by
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  socks like I did back in 985 when I joined a in military man.
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  I still fold my socks all that I still folds.
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  I had my shirts color coy. Color coy matters.
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  You know, my kids hang that way and you know, my stuff with
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  folder a certain way. And and I don't know if that's
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  wrong or royal, that's crazy or not, but it's it is me.
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  You know, I'm until I'm today. I don't have to be impress
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  anybody else today. I just have to be me.
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  I don't want to be anybody else, you know.
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  But I grew up, Yeah, I grew up in Manly, NSW, I was born in
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  Bega at NSW, so the town nicely made the cheese.
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  But by I grew up there and I left there about 80 months old
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  and I moved to a little town called Queen Dam, just out of
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  not so big now in Canberra. And then I guess I sort of moved
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  around a little bit, went up to the South Coast to Wollen,
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  Golden Port, Camberley. So there's about 5 or 6
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  different schools were moved to their memory and it was really
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  hard to make friends, you know, and try to fit it again.
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  And you just get comfortable there and you come home in the
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  bags, a pack and man were moving.
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  And I didn't, I was really confused, you know, like, but I
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  guess it was thank God that come back to having the sport, which
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  was I was, I played, you know, I played hockey for the school and
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  I was representing hockey and I, I enjoyed it and it was my
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  outlet. And I'd still believe today, you
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  know, whatever. But I believe this alcoholic and
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  other help box. I'll turn to IA is important.
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  My program is important. The fellowship is important.
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  I differentiate between the programme of Alcoholics
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  Anonymous doing what I need to do and the fellowship.
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  Was Jimmy learning to live out there, which Father Joe Martin
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  used supposed to know? Father Joe Martin used to say I
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  need to put these meetings, these steps of Alcoholics
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  Anonymous in between meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous.
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  But I can stand here and talk, to talk and walk the walk.
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  And sadly I have done that. I've been very quite
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  hypocritical in my ills and my sadness, in my sickness.
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  I've done that. Thank God today I don't do that.
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  But that's just part of my story.
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  You know, I'm not up here to to paint it anything different,
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  what it is. I have to tell it as it is, you
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  know, and for this alcoholic, I didn't come again.
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  I didn't get programmed straight away.
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  I didn't take it. I didn't go to any vex.
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  It took me a little while to get myself sorted in this program,
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  you know, and rang my sponsor. Jack was my first sponsor in
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  Newcastle and, and I rang him on my 20th birthday.
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  And I can remember exactly where it was.
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  It was outside the tub and I'm reading in Canberra across the
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  road is in my car on a Wednesday night and I've rang Jeff and I
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  said I'm 20 years sober today, sorry.
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  I want to share my birthday with you.
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  And we had a quick chat and I thought I've done the steps with
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  him. We're going to step far.
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  And so he said to me, he said I loved you unconditionally
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  though, I said, but we didn't go through the steps and we didn't
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  have a spiritual lightning. So I loved you back to life.
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  I tried to tell you about four different ways but wasn't
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  seeking him. But God, I loved you, you know,
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  and and that was enough for me to continue on, you know, with
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  my support. And now I haven't had a drink
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  since my first meeting. Have I been insane?
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  Yeah. There's plenty of insanity in
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  there. That's all.
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  I checked out on that. I pressed pause on my sobriety.
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  And I stepped out, not because I wanted to, because I stopped
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  doing that. And I'll become an untreated
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  alcoholic, you know, that's that's the scariest, loneliest
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  place in my life. But I've been here.
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  It's like somebody's put a syringe at me and sucked life
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  out of me, you know, And I had to fast track it because I
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  didn't think I'd get half an hour in.
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  But 22 was it. Yeah, Yeah.
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  So I don't know. It's yeah, somebody sucked a
• 13:45
  light out of me and I talked to my doctor today and I, I talked
• 13:52
  about, well, my ex ex wife's parents, but talk about, you
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  know, about being diabetic 'cause I'm a diabetic as well.
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  And I didn't sign up for that, but I got that, which is good.
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  So it helps me manage more disease today.
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  So I guess my life as I rest in life.
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  At the age of 18, as I said, I wanted to cook, so I didn't use
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  in two months. I joined the Air Force February
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  85, ninth of February 85. I took both in Sydney and come
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  to Adelaide, did my recruit training and when I did my cooks
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  training in Wagga and NSW and the next 21 1/2 years or super
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  country and proud of the fact I've done that.
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  There's a lot of humility in that.
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  And the fact is that the first three years and three months
• 14:32
  into my career, I drank and I, I wanted to drink the first time
• 14:38
  in my life when I drank, I drank a little bit for joining, I
• 14:41
  think. I don't know when my first drink
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  was 819. Whatever Dad used to give him
• 14:45
  the shady Vegemite glasses, you know, Vegemite glasses you're
• 14:48
  old enough to remember used to scrape the label off, you know,
• 14:51
  different sized Vegemite glasses.
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  So I started off in a little one and there's just a shady and
• 14:55
  whatever. And I guess that come along.
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  And that was all that off because dad had come home drunk
• 15:00
  and we'd have to be in bed and bath if also do 3 because the
• 15:03
  right and the road will come on. And anyway, I, my stepfather,
• 15:07
  come to my wife at the age of 15 and you know, a couple of years
• 15:10
  of drinking in a small country town.
• 15:12
  And then I joined the Air Force at the age of 18 and I went to
• 15:15
  my recruit training and that's where I guess I got all this
• 15:18
  money. And to me, I started drinking
• 15:21
  and I was pretty much a three pot screamer.
• 15:24
  Didn't take you much to get drunk.
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  But I started getting having friends and I start people
• 15:28
  started talking about me and started including me in their
• 15:31
  conversation and their life. And it's probably the things I'm
• 15:33
  not really proud about. You know, it's obviously that's
• 15:38
  all through my medical records, the fact that I was, I was drunk
• 15:41
  and disgraced in my uniform and the oath I took.
• 15:43
  But I guess I repaid that for the last 18 half years, 18 odd
• 15:48
  years of my, my military career where I, you know, I got to got
• 15:52
  to serve my country and I got to go some highlights of my career
• 15:56
  with I got gained 2 promotions and I got out as a Sergeant.
• 15:59
  And well, I got to go to East Timor in, in upfront end of 99
• 16:03
  and peacekeeping. And that was that was a real eye
• 16:05
  opener because it was great to give back, you know, for less
• 16:08
  fortunate when we went over there and we did peacekeeping
• 16:10
  for probably 2 1/2 to three months, I think it was, and it
• 16:14
  was good. So it maybe reflect on the
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  gratitude of what I've got, you know, and what less fortunate
• 16:20
  people are in the world, you know, And the fact is it was
• 16:24
  that was in 90 nine, 2005, I went to the Middle East and
• 16:27
  served over there as well. And that wasn't, wasn't so
• 16:29
  pleasant that got a commendation for that.
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  And because we were in their first, first, the first period
• 16:36
  of the year, so it was from January to January to, to May.
• 16:39
  So I got stumped with all the, all the functions that straight
• 16:43
  out that Anzac Day had to do a dining in night, which is a
• 16:46
  formal, which is a formal dinner for their military.
• 16:49
  So we have to cater for that as well.
• 16:51
  And, and it was good and we had to sort of work with the
• 16:55
  Canadians, the Canadian Forces were working with the Aussies
• 16:58
  before everybody laying kitchen built.
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  So, and I've been, I've been going through some DVI stuff,
• 17:04
  you know, and PTSD and not so much PTSD and mental health just
• 17:07
  lately. And the point I'm trying to get
• 17:10
  to is that psychiatrist, psychologist and the doctors
• 17:13
  have been talking a lot about before I joined, during my
• 17:16
  service and after. And the things that I've
• 17:18
  forgotten about. Like, you know, there was a
• 17:21
  situation in the Middle East where for the nearly nearly four
• 17:24
  months that I was there, like, you know, I was pretty much
• 17:27
  bullied, you know, like, like this.
• 17:29
  It was like abuse of power this far.
• 17:30
  I said, anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that was in my
• 17:33
  subconscious and I got it was even there like, and I was
• 17:37
  talking through it with a psychologist and I was almost in
• 17:39
  tears, you know, But it's nice to rename that because they're
• 17:41
  the things that I need to work on today because that, you know,
• 17:45
  that will bring me undone as far as how I approach life.
• 17:49
  So, so I guess I've got to be open to anything that's going to
• 17:52
  going to allow me to release that.
• 17:54
  I've had a lot of mates, not a lot of mates.
• 17:56
  I've had mates that have that taken their lives because of
• 18:00
  that sort of stuff, you know, even though mine's not to that
• 18:02
  great level. But I know today that the, the
• 18:06
  four inches, my head is probably the worst place I can ever be,
• 18:10
  you know, locked up in, in a jail of sorts because it's, it
• 18:14
  brings on that anxiety and that depression in the last probably
• 18:17
  2 years, why anxiety is increased for some reason or
• 18:20
  not. And that's what I'm working on
• 18:21
  at the moment. I don't know where it's come
• 18:22
  from. So I need to, need to actually,
• 18:25
  and it will tell me I don't need to do things.
• 18:27
  It'll tell me it will go against my better judgement.
• 18:31
  It affects my whole life. It affects my work life.
• 18:33
  Sometimes it'll, it'll fix the meetings I go to.
• 18:36
  I'll sort of like, I'll get into that stage where I just like
• 18:40
  maybe must have talked to him. And that just is my head.
• 18:42
  It's not the people. It's like we'll just go, you
• 18:45
  know, I'll just for me, the easiest way for me to deal with
• 18:47
  like is I ran, I did with all my relationships and you know, the
• 18:51
  current late 1 on it was your 3 up to the 3 1/2 years ago.
• 18:56
  And I'm you know, and, and it's for me now about learning how to
• 19:00
  be an adult in a relationship at the age of 58 in the 59 is like
• 19:05
  very foreign to me. But but I'm willing to work on
• 19:08
  it. I'm willing to get better.
• 19:09
  There is some growth there. It's taking a bit of time, but I
• 19:12
  just like things, simple things that people take for granted,
• 19:14
  like a hard conversation because I don't want to upset people
• 19:16
  like because we never did that growing up.
• 19:18
  Like you didn't raise your voice, you didn't bring
• 19:20
  something up because something would happen.
• 19:22
  But and the confidence in doing that and not being not being
• 19:25
  judged either, Like, and I'm not judged.
• 19:28
  It's just this is, it's judging me, You know, it's I've never
• 19:31
  thought about really a drink, you know, and I don't know why
• 19:35
  things happen like that, but I wake up this morning and I was
• 19:38
  just because my shirt was so soaking wet and I woken up and
• 19:44
  this doesn't happen for about 3 years, but I had a drinking
• 19:46
  drink and I had two coins and I was sitting there in the bar
• 19:49
  because I could imagine, I could just see it like why don't know
• 19:51
  why I had that dream when I woke up and I thought I'd busted so
• 19:55
  real, like I could taste the beer.
• 19:57
  Why that happens. I don't marry, but I don't need
• 20:00
  to talk about that. So and it was, it was warned and
• 20:03
  early. So probably this might happen.
• 20:05
  My subconscious, maybe it's the disease kicking in, maybe
• 20:07
  there's something I need to work on.
• 20:09
  There is not the fact I want to go out and drink, but also life,
• 20:12
  you know? So like it's set up in bed and
• 20:14
  it's like, what happened? What's going on, You know?
• 20:17
  I mean, it's like a little reel went off and they hit me, drank,
• 20:21
  I had two drinks. And I guess part of me in that
• 20:24
  scenario I vaguely remember was like, do I keep drinking out?
• 20:27
  Do I go back to AI? That's the weird stuff.
• 20:29
  So if I get off track of this mate can go that way, you know,
• 20:33
  if I'm 37 days, these seven months, these are weeks, these
• 20:36
  are news. I'm not immune from that, that
• 20:38
  diggy hair, positive thinking. I mean, you know, and I take the
• 20:42
  advice that I often talk to newcomers about I need to have
• 20:46
  that mental, mental defense against first drink.
• 20:49
  So, you know, I think it's the doctor's opinion talks about
• 20:51
  phenomenal creating. And the last time we did it was
• 20:54
  my sponsor. They said he's kicking in like I
• 20:57
  counted him this time. I think it's six times and he
• 20:59
  mentions that. So Google, well, W said that the
• 21:02
  code the founders code gamers once to me or for us that read
• 21:05
  it. He's not just saying it once.
• 21:07
  He's making it clear that it's a phenomenal craving.
• 21:10
  You know, it's before I drink it.
• 21:12
  I'm thinking about anything like it's the thought followed by the
• 21:15
  mental followed by the physical. You know, I'm diabetic.
• 21:19
  I don't I'm not really supposed to eat stuff I'm not supposed to
• 21:21
  eat. But if I think about a pack of
• 21:22
  marshmallows and I don't get rid of that thought before, I know
• 21:25
  I'm in a shopping hall and I've got 2 packs and nice mailbox,
• 21:27
  you know, Victor opened a meeting on the way to the car,
• 21:29
  you know, it's. So I guess it's just the whole
• 21:31
  point of trying to get that thought process across, you
• 21:34
  know. And with all that said and done,
• 21:37
  I'm not doing too bad today. I'm a pretty good bloke.
• 21:40
  Just asked me, I'll tell you that funny story around that.
• 21:44
  I did, I did first sponsor Jeff. He had a stroke about 11 years
• 21:47
  ago. I think every year he sends me a
• 21:49
  message on 6th of June. You'll sing it or you'll write
• 21:52
  it, you'll send a GIF some spiritual thing you said happy
• 21:55
  birthday, David, you're a miracle.
• 21:56
  Another years past, you know, and I believe every day we we
• 21:59
  have sobriety is a miracle. And every day the weekend, the
• 22:03
  drink or a drug of choice that we don't have that, you know,
• 22:05
  we'll be walking miracles, you know, and also like, Oh yeah,
• 22:09
  well, miracles. But go ahead.
• 22:10
  Maybe I'm a miracle. No good on you.
• 22:13
  And so putting myself and I'm like always putting myself last,
• 22:18
  but I'm learning slowly to put myself first because.
• 22:23
  And the other thing that the father, Joe Martin used to talk
• 22:24
  about in the chalk talk when I was in rehab was that he said
• 22:27
  that. He said the chalk, chalk, chalk
• 22:29
  board. He said if Alcoholics do not
• 22:31
  love themselves, they cannot love anybody else, you know?
• 22:33
  And the thought come in my head, that was my dad in his heart of
• 22:36
  hearts. He couldn't want to love me or
• 22:38
  love us as a family because he didn't love himself.
• 22:40
  He couldn't love anybody else, you know, And thank God I loved
• 22:43
  myself today. You know, it's the other thing
• 22:46
  Jeff used to say to me. I'll finish on this about two
• 22:49
  minutes. Used to say, yeah, it's it's
• 22:51
  funny. It's not funny.
• 22:52
  It's funny good. A lot of the old sober members
• 22:54
  used to say to me earlier sobriety, you know, I'm Tichy
• 22:56
  from the civic group in in Newcastle.
• 22:59
  It's really old school. He'd say, you know, when you're
• 23:02
  sitting at home can actually like get you sober, you know,
• 23:04
  get in there and get get sobriety and I get to meetings.
• 23:08
  You know, when Lenny used to say to me, like Lenny from Stockton
• 23:10
  used to say, used to call me a wing command and he'd say like
• 23:13
  tree like a blanket wrap around him.
• 23:15
  Kick in here. You know I'll walk into a
• 23:16
  meeting and I'll be something you said what's wrong?
• 23:19
  They don't they know see Infinity of 1A high to another.
• 23:22
  They know there's something wrong.
• 23:23
  He'd say and I know what you're there to do and you give me a
• 23:25
  kick in the asses. They go off and do it.
• 23:27
  You know, Jeff, Jeff, you say take the face of Chris a call me
• 23:30
  to out of your back pocket. You know, and don't crucify
• 23:34
  yourself. Get off get off across somebody
• 23:36
  else needs a wood buy yourself lunch take yourself to a movie
• 23:38
  big kind of day, though, and I and I guess I don't dig it.
• 23:42
  I don't remember those things all day often, you know, And I
• 23:44
  guess to me sharing that tonight, it's just a reminder
• 23:47
  that paid ever take a bit of your own advice at times, you
• 23:50
  know, So that's pretty much time.
• 23:53
  And I was very sure I'm not so nervous now.
• 23:56
  And I think the beautiful thing that my sponsor tells me is not
• 24:00
  come from the heart. That is the heart, you know, And
• 24:02
  it's just a wonderful program and we got to stick around.
• 24:05
  And the miracle. Yeah.
• 24:07
  Miracles. The best is yet to come, isn't
• 24:10
  it? I'll guess.
• 24:12
  Thank you. A A has more than two million
• 24:15
  recovering Alcoholics throughout the world.
• 24:18
  In Australia there are about 18,000 members.
• 24:23
  They meet in over 2000 local meetings spread around the
• 24:27
  country. Meetings range in size from a
• 24:30
  handful in some areas to hundreds or more in larger
• 24:35
  communities. And once again, if anyone you
• 24:38
  know is struggling with alcohol issues, please call Alcoholics
• 24:43
  announcing 1300 Double 00000 or visit their website on aa.org
• 24:50
  dot AU.