The Difference Between Dumping in a Meeting and Sharing a Solution – Paul F.

About This Speaker Tape

A 19-year-old convict in Florence State Prison first encountered the program but spent seven years bouncing between sobriety and the bottle before a violent clash with the Phoenix Police Department left him facing a 25-year sentence. He describes the 'medicine' of the Big Book as the only thing that silenced the mental obsession and the paranoia that once had him convinced the CIA was planting microphones in his teeth. Through a series of eccentric sponsors—one of whom welcomed him into a porn-covered bathroom and a naked living room—he moved from 'sobrieting' to actual recovery.

He recounts a strange synchronicity involving a judge who spared him from prison twice only to later discover the judge was also a recovering alcoholic. He emphasizes that sobriety is a gift that requires daily maintenance warning that arrogance and 'dry drunk' behavior are the only real threats to a man's peace.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Opening remarks and the observation that laughter prevents thinking.
• 5:15 Discussion on the 'medicine' of the Big Book and the distortion of reality (DUI stories).
• 12:30 Recounting his first meeting at 19 in Florence State Prison.
• 18:45 The turning point: assaulting three police officers and facing a 25-year sentence.
• 24:10 Laughter: The story of the sponsor with the porn-covered bathroom and the 'naked truth'.
• 32:00 The 'Coke machine' metaphor and the danger of half-measures.
• 41:15 The first court appearance and the 'higher court' of a Higher Power.
• 52:30 The 'dry drunk' period and the intervention by his sponsor and wife, Jan J.
• 61:00 Discussion on the 'human condition' versus the 'spiritual condition'.
• 72:15 The loss of his long-term sponsor, Dave D., and the importance of finding a sponsor with what you want.