The Way He Did Everything One Day at a Time – Jim W.

About This Speaker Tape

Northwest Texas, a small town called Crowell. A Baptist upbringing where the "real ones" prayed for the Catholics and the deacons looked sad on Sundays because they were exhausted from the Saturday night honky-tonks. Jim W. spent his youth in a cycle of "don't-do" and "do," discovering that the moment he tried not to think about something, it became the only thing in his head.

His life became a sequence of blackouts and "total fright." He describes a gritty existence of spraying golf courses with beer, failing out of jobs, and a suicide attempt in a bathroom that was interrupted by a phone call from the police. He navigated the world with a "number one and a spare" woman, living in a faded green trailer in an alley. From the Air Force in China to a drug company in Fort Stockton, Jim used Librium and whiskey to mute the noise. It took a Christmas Eve collapse in Houston and a ride with a stranger to find a Higher Power and a way to stop the blackout.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Jim W. opens with a humorous take on the 'friendliness' of Mesquite AA.
• 4:15 Laughter: Recounting the pressure of being a Southern Baptist in Northwest Texas.
• 12:30 Description of the 'blackout' cycle: drinking, waking up, and throwing up.
• 22:10 The 'deep meditation' on the commode.
• 27:45 Detailed account of his suicide attempt and the subsequent police call.
• 38:20 The first encounter with a sponsor and the 'milk and honey' drink at the club.
• 48:15 Sponsorship: The strict requirements for the morning prayer and daily phone calls.
• 55:30 Discussion of the 4th Step and the 'loveless thing' surfacing.
• 62:10 Reflection on the 'insanity' of the alcoholic mind and the power of the fellowship.