A New Holiday Perspective Bringing Joy to the Less Fortunate How Appropriate It Seems That There Are Twelve Degree, Largely Due to the Inconvenience of It All
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December, 2020 Volume 51, Issue 12 Experience, Strength, and Hope in Orange County A New Holiday Perspective Bringing Joy to the Less Fortunate How appropriate it seems that there are twelve degree, largely due to the inconvenience of it all. I months in a year, and we have Twelve Steps in the explained this problem to a dear friend once, and he program. November is often referred to as Grati- asked, “Does the rest of the family enjoy the holi- tude Month, mainly due the celebration of Thanks- days?” I said yes. He then said, “Why don’t you just giving. The joy of good living is the theme of Step take a back seat and just watch the joy in their eyes Twelve, and it blends right in with the Christmas as they experience these things.” I did exactly what holiday season in December and ends with the New he suggested, and when I started to observe my Year’s Eve celebration. This time of year does bring wife and two adolescent girls and the childlike inno- a lot of joy to many of us, but it also brings distress cence and happiness it brought to them, it gave me to some of the less fortunate ones who have yet to a whole new appreciation for this time of year. It be blessed with the gift of sobriety and peace of brought tears of joy to my eyes, and I no longer mind, inside and outside of AA. wanted to be the grouch, putting a damper on the joy that they were having. I have been following this During my drinking days I used to be extremely line of thinking ever since and it has changed my uncomfortable about the holidays. I never knew whole perspective concerning these things. how to act around normal people unless I was half- Continued on page 15 smashed. When invited by one of my siblings to Thanksgiving dinner, I felt like a charity case and would rather just hang out at the bar where I felt safe. I never got into the spirit of Inside This Issue reaching out to others. My family celebrated the different holidays, A New Holiday Perspective 1,15 especially Christmas, and I would always (due to my discomfort) put Service Board Information 2 a damper on it by complaining about the tacky gifts that people ‘Tis the Season 3 would buy for each other at Christmas, the mad rush to go shopping, Our Principles 4 and the commercializing facade that it had become. Any excuse was Central Office Activity/Web Stats 6 better than facing me and the miserable wretch I had become. 12 Tips on Keeping Your Holiday Season Sober and Joyous 7 The Choo Choo Train Track 8 After being sober for several years, it occurred to me that I still had The End of 2020 8 some of those same attitudes and was holding on to them, to some Step Three: The Surrender 9 December Pamphlet of the Month 9 When I started to observe my wife and two adoles- AA Becomes Rich . Almost 10 Christmas . Real or Fantasy? 11 cent girls and the childlike innocence and happiness it October Donations 12, 14,15 brought to them, it gave me a whole new apprecia- Speaker Meetings 13 tion for this time of year. It brought tears of joy to my Statement of Income and Expense 15 eyes, and I no longer wanted to be the grouch. Word Search 16 December, 2020 Volume 51, Issue 12 Welcome 2020 Public Information Committee: Meets the 4th Monday of the month at SERVICE BOARD 7:00PM, Central Office, 1526 Brookhol- low, Suite 75, Santa Ana Chair, Stacey A. [email protected] Group Relations Committee: Meets the 2nd Wednesday of the month at Purpose: The Lifeline Committee is a 6:30PM, the Costa Mesa Senior Center, group of AA members charged with the Vice Chair, Glen R. 695 West 19th St. (30 minutes before the responsibility of producing and distrib- [email protected] Intergroup meeting) uting the Orange County Lifeline. The [email protected] Lifeline Committee: Meets the 1st Lifeline is published monthly and is sup- Thursday of the month at 7:00PM, ported solely through contributions from Treasurer, John R. Central Office, 1526 Brookhollow, Suite 75, the AA groups and members of Orange [email protected] Santa Ana (This month is via Zoom, ID: County. The Lifeline proposes to meet 949 463 6384, Password: 444) the following needs of the Orange County Secretary, Lance S. Special Events Committee: meets the AA membership: to inform AAs of service [email protected] 2nd Wednesday of the month at opportunities, events, and announce- 6:00PM, the Costa Mesa Senior Center, ments; to share experience in recovery, Central Office, Rosie G. 695 West 19th St. (1 hour before the Inter- unity, and service; and to report the ac- [email protected] group meeting) tions, finances, and meetings of the Or- South Orange County H & I meets the ange County Intergroup Association and Group Relations, Chelsea P. 3rd Wednesday of the month at other Central Office committees. [email protected] 7:00PM (new members’ orientation) and 7:45PM (business meeting), Laguna Beach Canyon Club, 20456 Laguna Canyon Road, Lifeline Editor: Jennifer J. Lifeline, Chris R. [email protected] Laguna Beach [email protected] Orange County H & I meets the 2nd ORANGE COUNTY Public Information, Marti H. Sunday of the month at 4:00PM and CENTRAL OFFICE [email protected] 6:00PM, Garden Grove Alano Club, 9845 1526 Brookhollow, Suite 75 Belfast Drive, Garden Grove PublicInformationCommittee@oc- Santa Ana, CA 92705 aa.org (Orientations for institutions is at 3:15PM, followed by the Institutions meeting at Phone: (714) 556-4555 E-mail: [email protected] 4:00PM, Hospitals orientation starts at Special Events, Melissa A. Website: www.oc-aa.org 5:15PM, followed by the Hospitals meeting SpecialEventsOCAAIntergroup at 6:00—One year of sobriety required.) Office hours: Mon-Fri: 9AM-7PM; @gmail.com Saturday & Holidays: 9AM-1PM The Central Office Committee meets the 4th Tuesday of each month at Hospitals & Institutions, Tara E.& 6:00PM, Central Office, 1526 Brookhol- SOUTH COUNTY OFFICE low, Suite 75, Santa Ana 30011 Ivy Glenn Drive, Michelle R. H&[email protected] Suite 104 The OCAA Technology Committee Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 meets by Zoom on the 1st Monday of the Phone: (949) 582-2697 month at 6:00PM. Meeting ID: 159 765 Technology, Brian P. E-mail: [email protected] 117, Password: ocaatech [email protected] Office hours: Mon-Fri: 10AM-5PM The Orange County Intergroup Assoc. usually meets the 2nd Wednesday of the For information about General Service, month at 7:00PM, Costa Mesa Senior Cen- please go to the Area 9 website, ter, 695 W. 19th Street, Costa Mesa (This www.msca09aa.org. month is via Zoom (ID: 616 903 638, Pass- word: ocaa) For more information on any of the above committees, please contact Orange County Central office at (714) 556-4555. Thank you to our board and committee members. 2 December, 2020 Volume 51, Issue 12 ‘Tis the Season Over time, I have come to recognize that the period between October 31 and January 1 seem to be difficult for a lot of my fellow alcoholics. Gray days! While I also experience gray days during this period, it is for differ- ent reasons. Once I had started drinking, for effect from the start, holi- days never were a big deal to me. They were a day or two off work, which Join the Lifeline Committee! allowed me to drink more. Being selfish and into instant gratification, it never occurred to me that these were special days. Always feeling alone Lifeline Committee members can help read, write, seemed natural. edit, create, design or simply offer suggestions for the Lifeline. The Lifeline Committee usually meets During this period of time in my last year of practicing, I was experiencing on the first Thursday of the month at Central Office some fairly difficult medical issues and was unable to drink as a result. I talked, thought, and dreamed about drinking constantly, becoming a bit (1526 Brookhollow Dr., Ste. 75, Santa Ana), unhinged, perhaps. Some folks thought so, and the end product was me though we will be having this month’s meeting via being referred to a shrink by my Commanding Officer. The results of that Zoom (ID: 949 463 6384, Password: 444). visit got me referred to Alcohol Rehab. Being highly irritated over this, I detoxed off all the meds the doctors were giving me so I could drink If you’d like to submit an article, poem, or cartoon again. After three weeks, feeling it was safe, I was ready to drink again. to be considered for publication, please send all submissions to the email address below by the On December 24, 1980, my intention was to get drunk again. It never 15th of the month for the following month (e.g., Au- happened! Holding that first bottle of beer, somewhere in between my gust 15th for the September issue). The best arti- ears the thought, This will never work again surfaced. The beer I was cles are under 600 words and are usually much holding went down the drain. Everything was fairly black over the next shorter. If you are unsure of what to write, you can eleven days until my first AA meeting. So, this period remains my “gray think of a great share at your favorite meeting. You days” even into the present.