April 19, 2022

Here it is, 4 days later, and the issue I was having with social media has resolved itself. When I was at the peak of my frustration, I did what I should have done in the beginning. I put the matter in the hands of my higher power whom I choose to call God and a funny thing happened. First, the stress of trying to control an uncontrollable situation eased up. And then, I saw a solution to my dilemma. I merely logged in to my account and I have been using it in moderation and that appears to be working.

April 15, 2022

It's been a long week for me. I'm having issues with a social media platform. I keep getting locked out or having various restrictions placed upon me, I haven't been provided with a suitable reason and I don't seem able to rectify the situation. The only option appears to be leaving the platform. That is what it is. I do have a presence on other platforms and I do have a presence here. I'll have to make a few changes in the way I do things. You might be seeing more of me than before. Because you know me, I have a lot to say.

Strangers At A Wake, excerpt From Laymans Guide To Screaming, copyright 2013

 

STRANGERS AT A WAKE

I see there are 200 people in my friends list.

Does that mean I have 200 friends? or that I know 200 people?

If I deactivated my profile today would anyone notice?

Would there be 200 frantic inquiries to social media HQ?

What happened? Where's my friend? Or would 200 people

simply shrug and remove that faceless silhouette

from their list?

Would they still like my photos and

reminisce over my witty posts?

or would they be like strangers at a wake

who come and eat all the food but

never sign the guestbook?

© Bernie Schultz 2013

Making Coffee

I once heard it said that service work (in AA) is anything that makes a twelfth step call possible. So, you might be the person who answered the phone when the new guy called, you might be the person who said hello and shook the newcomer's hand, you might be the guy making coffee at the meeting or the person chairing the meeting. You don't have to be a group officer, you don't have to serve on a committee, or be the treasurer or a secretary, but these are all service positions you can do simply by volunteering to do them.

In my early days, I did the things that didn't require much skill: setting up the chairs or making the coffee or standing at the door, greeting. As time passed and I became more confident, I agreed to do one of the readings. From there, I chose to sit at the chairperson's side, serving as his or her secretary, and eventually as the chairperson which really is just more reading.

In the past 25 years, I've served on various committees, as a representative of my group and even as the leader of the district committee. None of the jobs I have done are any more important than the other. Like an inukshuk, each stone in the structure supports the others.

Currently, I am the general service representative for my group, I chair meetings at my group when asked to, and I will also be a speaker for birthday meetings at my group, when asked to. I find that I don't always have to say yes when I'm asked to do something, but if I have the time to do it, I should agree to do it. 

The way I have always seen it is that if everyone thinks someone else is making the coffee, the coffee won't get made. And then, when a newcomer shows up, who will be there to greet him or show him where to be seated, or where the coffee pot is, etc. It is true that I should never over-extend myself in service work by taking on too many jobs, or by doing one job for too long a period of time.

January 6 - Trust

My word today was Trust. I thought if it had been Expectations, I could have found it more appropriate for today. I have an online group that I started a few years back. I decided to get it back up and running, so I spoke to a few members who used to attend and let them know it was happening. I also spoke to some members from other groups and in the end there were 11 people in the group.

When meeting time started, there were 4 of us in attendance, out of 11 persons. I was not impressed, but only because I had erroneously placed expectations on people I really don't know that well. I suppose my higher power sent the people he knew needed the meeting tonight and if the others need the meeting next week, they'll be there next week.

Maybe the word from my godbox was appropriate.