Fresh Start Club West Branch

12/04/2025

Tonight (Thursday) at 530 board meeting for the fresh start club. Then at 7pm the New Life Group of Alcoholics Anonymous has a Big Book Study

12/04/2025

Escape
“I came to the program because I felt unhappy, abandoned, and generally miserable.”
BRB p. 413
Before ACA, many of us were scared. We knew that if something didn’t change in our lives, we were likely to be emotionally or physically abused again, and we knew we couldn’t take any more. To escape and to try to feel good, we had tried anything – burying ourselves in books all day, playing hours of video games, or compulsively shopping. We may have also used po*******hy as a way to numb ourselves. Our relationships were not with safe people. Our bodies were racked with tension that never seemed to go away.
Attending our first ACA meeting signaled the start of gradual change for us. As we come out of denial, we realize that we are capable of being healthy and sane. We find that sometimes this involves making hard choices, but ultimately those choices are worth it.
An important choice we make is to do the Steps with a Sponsor or fellow traveler who can be a witness to our positive change. We find that when we make bold, positive moves, the universe steps up to heal us. We are able to live a new story and feel free.
On this day I trust that I am going in the right direction and that I have all the support I need when I am willing to ask.
© COPYRIGHT ACA WSO INC.

12/04/2025

Today (Thursday) at Noon

12/03/2025

Tonight (Wednesday) at 7pm

12/03/2025

Step Twelve
“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others who still suffer, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
BRB p. 279
When we first entered recovery, we may have wanted to tell everyone we knew about this amazing program. But we soon found that most people were not interested in what we had to say. We probably sounded like we were preaching about what they should do.
We soon learned that carrying the message of recovery was not about chasing people down and forcing them to listen, but standing still and honoring our true space. We live the message through our words and actions, generating an environment that people want to be part of. They become more comfortable with us, but may not even know why.
In meetings, we help carry the message to each other when we tell our stories, agree to be a sponsor or fellow traveler, and take on service roles.
Our True Selves trust there will always be more to learn when we practice these principles in all our affairs.
On this day I will share who I have become with those who are willing to listen. I will remember that my actions speak louder than my words.
© COPYRIGHT ACA WSO INC.

12/03/2025

Today (Wednesday) at Noon

12/02/2025

Today (Tuesday) Adult Children of Alcoholics at 530pm. Then Common Ground Group of Narcotics Anonymous meets at 7pm.

12/02/2025

12/02/2025

Today (Tuesday) at noon

12/01/2025

Tonight ( Monday) 12x12 at 7pm

12/01/2025

Perfectionism
“In other homes, the children are like objects of perfection to be displayed alongside dinners centered on tables with fine fixtures, perfect posture, and orderly spoons and forks. Holidays and celebrations bring guests who compliment the parents for sparkling floors and perfect children.”
BRB p. 37
A more subtle and powerful undercurrent in our alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional families was ever-present control, although the type of control may not have always seemed clear. Whether our houses resembled museums or they were well-cluttered, expressions of love may have been flowery and superficial and had strings attached.
The essence of these dysfunctional expressions was not authentic, and we knew it.
The actual object of all the cleanliness or sloppiness, the pseudo expression of love, was inauthentic. Deep inside, our True Self saw that the real motive was the suppression of the possibility of admitting that things were out of control.
So we bought in and “acted out” this subconscious conflict to both avoid being ostracized and to keep our own feelings of being out of control from surfacing.
Gradually, when the sense of chaos crept into our consciousness as adults, and we hit an emotional, spiritual and physical bottom, we found ACA. In this humbled state, we are given the gift of recovery as we recollect the memories of our upbringing, admit our terror and grieve our losses.
On this day I will examine the control in my family and the effect it’s had in my adult life. I will practice the ACA program to help process the unexpressed traumatic fear and buried memories so that I may be free of control.
© COPYRIGHT ACA WSO INC.

12/01/2025

Today (Monday) at Noon