Paul O. "Acceptance is the Answer" AA speaker

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Patria
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Paul O. "Acceptance is the Answer" AA speaker

http://youtu.be/jTLRWfIJWyg

Paul O. is the author of "Acceptance is the Answer" in the Big Book of AA.

Maggie
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Thanks for sharing Pat. He

Thanks for sharing Pat. He is very funny, I like him. I couldn't stop laughing.

It's good to have goals and dreams, but while you're waiting for things to change, waiting for promises to come to pass, don't be discontent with where you are. Learn to enjoy the season that you're in--Pastor Joel Osteen

Patria
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Me, too! 

Me, too!

dusty0
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I dunno, this speech didn't

I dunno, this speech didn't do much for me. I feel like he spent most of his time belittling himself and new alcoholics. It was funny, but I didn't "walk away with anything". Are there any parts that you particularly liked?

Patria
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I mainly just loved him.

I mainly just loved him. Have you ever read his story in AA's big book? It's the one on acceptance. As an alcoholic he ruined just about everything he had accomplished. He had lots of degrees, member of boards, etc. but he ended up in the nut ward. It's quite a story of a huge ego which crashed and burned.

This particular speech was when he was much older. Usually his wife Max speaks also from the Alanon point of view. Taken in context with his whole life of ego, the minimizing he does is a huge reminder to himself about where he ended up because he thought he was so spectacular.

I will try to find some other talks.

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Your angle on the self

Your angle on the self depreciation is interesting. I didn't think about it that way. I might have to give this one another listen some day

Maggie
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Paul O’s

Paul O's speech:

1. He had the impression that they went overboard and inviting. He had no idea so many drunks there. That is funny.

2. They, alcoholics, generated a great deal of energy when they were crowded together. I agreed with him I felt that as well in the meeting.

3. He felt bad that sometimes people had to stand but what the hell, he had to stand too. He learned to accept the reality of that moment.

4. "The only requirement to be an alcoholic is the desire to start drinking." That made more sense. I liked this statement, it made me think about when I first quit, the only desire I had was to stop gaming but now is the desire to start gaming.

5. He talked about the old timer giving the speech; it started with "God.." and then everyone recited the serenity prayer and ran for the food. The moral is don't bring God too soon or you will lose your audiences. It is another joke of his.

6. On the airplane how he paid attention to another man who wanted "white wine." The funny part is that this man "had to think about it" when the lady offered the red wine. A wrong social blender to drink the wrong kind of white with a peanut. The funny part was this person had to think about it just because of the wrong color of wine. Most addicts don't think like that, they focused more the alcohol itself.

7. He talked about the America Airline's BestBuy. Under the best drink, the best wine "The 1992, Napa Valley Chardonnay has a crisp pair apple flavor with a touch of clow at the end." He was looking for somebody who plans a slip to try this wine. If someone planned to slip any way, might as well found something useful like trying this wine. He did not care about the "crisp pair apple flavor" but liked to know if it left the drinker with a touch of clow at the end. Another joke of his, I liked it.

8. He ended up in the nuts ward; the people won't let the patients leave until they learned to make a "leather belt." They were convinced that the quality of his life would improve if he learned to make this leather belt or ash tray or something. He thought it was ridiculous because he had a whole wall full of licenses, degrees and certificates to prove that he was educated way beyond his level of intelligence. He did not understand the instruction or philosophy behind it. It was interesting to see how he used his intellect and thought process in a nuts ward while he was still in denial at the time.

9. He finished a pharmacy school but wanted to go medical school. His family did not have the money during the depression, so he married a girl next door and sent to medical school instead. Another joke of his.

10. He explained how the psychiatrist told him the whole story and the only thing that he got out of that was toward the end "would you like to go the meeting with me?" Then he realized that he got himself an alcoholic psychiatrist. Since the psychiatrist was ashamed to go, so he sent him instead. This was how his addicted brain told him.

11. Now his wife, Max who could not drive the freeway normally but managed to drive to AA all by herself because he did not want to go. He said have you thought of sitting at home on a Saturday drinking while your non-alcoholic spouse laughed it off at the AA meeting. He found it was rude. Now he had to find out what the alcoholics were laughing about, it turned out that they pretty much were laughing at anything. Just imagine that your spouse is going to the addict's meeting while you stay at home gaming? What do you think about it? It is kind of funny in a way.

12. Another part that was funny: when he had to draw a written contract between him and his HP. He handled the doing part and his HP handles the worrying part. Who would think of such a thing? In a way he was right. That is acceptance. He did not define acceptance in his speech; however, each example of his life defined each stage of acceptance. These notes only showed the first part of his speech. You can listen to it again when you have free time. I really enjoyed listening to him. It is funny everytime I listen to it that is what made it very good.

It's good to have goals and dreams, but while you're waiting for things to change, waiting for promises to come to pass, don't be discontent with where you are. Learn to enjoy the season that you're in--Pastor Joel Osteen

Patria
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dusty0 wrote: Your angle on
dusty0 wrote:

Your angle on the self depreciation is interesting. I didn't think about it that way. I might have to give this one another listen some day

Read his story in the Big Book first. Also, this is just a note from a long-time AA member (me) we tend to poke fun at ourselves. He isn't dissing the newcomers. You almost have to be an alcoholic to understand how we love poking fun at ourselves.

Big hugs.

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