The Ability to Respond Instead of React – Dick M.

About This Speaker Tape

Chain Bridge, Washington D.C., dawn. Dick M. sits in his car, smoking a cigar and drinking until the alcohol stops working. A derelict crawls out of the bushes, begging for a drink. Dick hands over the bottle, seeing his own future in the man's unshaven face. He goes home and swears he is finished, only to wake up hours later in a puddle of his own urine, clutching a can of beer.

A beaten and warped man, Dick describes his history as a drift of family alcoholism and a first marriage ruined by the "Saturday Afternoon Martini Club." He admits he doesn't sponsor seventy-some-odd guys because he is wonderful, but because it is the only thing that keeps him sober. He views the program as a way to back away from the gates of Hell. For Dick, responsibility is simply the ability to respond rather than react. He credits his Higher Power and the grit of sponsorship for a life spent in the better half of his years.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Dick M. introduces himself and reflects on 33 years of sobriety.
• 2:15 Discussion on the responsibility statement and the ability to respond to others.
• 6:40 Laughter: Dick's blunt advice to a struggling sponsee to 'shut up' and just go to meetings.
• 10:15 Dick discusses the 'martyrdom' of sponsoring 70+ people to maintain his own sobriety.
• 14:30 Family history: The tragedy of his father's drunken fall and the volatility of his mother.
• 19:20 The 'Saturday Afternoon Martini Club' and the wreckage of his first marriage.
• 23:10 The Potomac River encounter and the failure of his first attempt to stay sober.
• 27:45 Step 1: Discussing the lack of inner strength and the process of being 12-stepped by Buck D.
• 31:10 Critique of those who rewrite their inventories constantly, calling it 'stirring up a cesspool'.
• 36:50 Story about Father Ed D. and the 'gates of Hell'.
• 41:20 Reflections on his marriage to Peg and the 'postal' ex-boyfriend.
• 47:10 The final visit with Bruce and the importance of dying sober. Ends with applause.