Unknown Meanings

In our endeavor to achieve and maintain recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction, those in the recovery program ETA use literature; some of which was written decades ago. The basic text of this literature uses some words that are unfamiliar to today's language. I was recently in an ETA meeting where this was the topic and got all fired up about it, so that is what today's post is about.

Pigeon: Some of us refer to the people we sponsor as pigeons. In this instance, we are not referring to the birds that poop all over everything so there is no reason to feel insulted. Pigeon means a personal problem or concern and I am personally concerned with the sober journey of the people I sponsor. We also carry the message of recovery back and forth, as do pigeons.

Sanity: What does this mean to you? Can you define it? If not, then how are you going to know if the old HP has restored you to sanity? One of the ways that I define sanity is; placing the appropriate amount of emotion on any given situation. If I snap at someone it is not the end of the world, it is simply something I ought to apologize for.

Commence: This does not mean walking around a school with a black robe and a cardboard hat on your head. It means to go on, or proceed from here.

Manifestation: Kind of like a sign or a symptom; a sign of something being present or existing.

Morals: A set of characteristics that determines a code behavior acceptable to you. What you see as appropriate behavior for you. This is not a code we establish for others. We examine our own behavior and beliefs and change the things that we discover are causing problems in our own life.

Trudge: To walk with purpose. "...As we trudge the road to happy destiny..." This doesn't mean that we plod along, overwhelmed and beaten down. Nor does it mean we keep grinding away at the path we are taking to sobriety; our teeth grit as we crawl and claw through each day. Who wants to live like that? I did that before I got into recovery!

The newcomer to recovery needs to learn the meanings of these and other words to work and live this program. If, as a sponsor, you don't have your pigeon look these words up, or tell them what they mean, you are passing a murky recovery message. That would be half measures. And half measures avail us nothing.

Have a good and sober day.