Central Office
910-678-8002 310 Green St., Suite 201, Box 14 Fayetteville, NC 28301 Office hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays Website: fayaa.org
December 2017
The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
The Common Bond
Upcoming
Events
Nov. 19
District 51 board
will meet in Robe-
son County at 3
p.m. Site to be de-
termined.
***
Nov. 22-26
Sandalwood
Thanksgiving Day
weekend Alcathon
and dinner. De-
tails on page 2.
Check with lo-
cal groups for oth-
er holiday activi-
ties.
***
Dec. 24-Jan.1
Check with local
groups for Christ-
mastime and New
Year’s events.
***
Jan. 17
BCR-CO Coun-
cil meeting at 6:30
p.m. at the Central
Office board room,
310 Green St.,
Fayetteville.
Continued on page 3
Fighting mental twists Part two of a two part series
So what did I find out about the
strange mental twist which af-
flicts and confounds so many of
us recovering alcoholics; causing
so many of us to reset our sobrie-
ty dates over and over? Perhaps,
the first thing to come to terms
with is the nature of our disease.
Our disease is biological, psy-
chological, social, situational, pre-
occupational (obsession) and spir-
itual. For these reasons, it is re-
cidivist in its nature.
It is biological because there is
some difference in our genes and
their expression — expression is
partly causes by epigenesis;
meaning once changed by exter-
nal factors you can’t change back.
Another effect of our biology is
tolerance to alcohol. Simply put
the more you use the more you
need. Signs of severe overuse are,
headaches, sweating, thirst,
Continued on
page 6
Page 2
Make contact with the Central Office
Common Bond editor: Dave C. at com-
Fayaa.org webmaster: [email protected]
Central Office: [email protected]
also [email protected]. Hotline: 910-678-8733 Mail: 310
Green St., Suite 201, Mailbox 14, Fayetteville, NC
Page 2 COMMON BOND
Sandalwood’s Thanks-
giving weekend Alcathon
will begin at 12 a.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 22, and
run until 9:30 p.m. Sun-
day, Nov. 26. It will be
open 24 hours through-
out the weekend.
Chairpersons will
change on a 2-hour shift
throughout the holiday
weekend.
Sandalwood will also
have Thanksgiving din-
ner will be after the noon
meeting on Thursday. Side
dishes are needed.
The group is also expecting
to run an Alcathon during
Christmas and New Year’s hol-
idays although starting and
ending times have not be an-
nounced. Most likely the
Christmastime Alcathon will
start on Dec. 22 run until the
night of Jan. 1 Check with the
Sandalwood group for details
in December.
The hall is at 626 Sandal-
wood Drive, which is off
Raeford Road and Hope Mills
Road.
Central Office Board Chairman Dave. C. Vice chairman Jim B. Treasurer Carey D. At-Large members Bladen Vacant Cumberland Carl S. Robeson Vacant Office manager/ secretary Audrey C.
Council Agnostics & Others Vacant Central Group Jackie M. Sandalwood Sean L. Back to Basics Dan. A Bare Bones Michael B. ODAT Jerry T. Fort Bragg Michael Freedom in Growth Laureen O. Keep It Simple Corey B. New Freedom Spencer G. 101 Big Book Ray C. Principles Group Charles K. Pine Run Craig Seekers of Sobriety Donna L. Spring Into Action Anne S. There is a Solution Stephen B. Village Group Sylvia E. Walking the Same Path Alexis L.
Services Hotline Audrey C. Webmaster Jim H.
Sandalwood sets holiday Alcathon
Linda C. has resigned as office
manager. The BCR-CO Coun-
cil has temporarily appointed
Audrey C. to that position.
In accordance with the by-
laws, the Central Office must
take applications for the posi-
tion. To apply those interested
must attend the Board meeting
at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at the Cen-
tral Office at 310 Green St., for
interviews.
Applications for office manager are being accepted
Page 3 The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
Strange mental twist Continued from page 1
shakes light
sensitivity
and other,
more subtle
effects such
as nystag-
mus — un-
controllable
eye move-
ments. Habit
formation is
an iffy thing
involving
both the
brain hard-
ware, the bi-
ological brain
tissue and
the shaping
of these
brain nerve
connections
through re-
peated volun-
tary action
which involve learning.
Such habit creation moves us and tran-
sitions us from the physiological to the
mental, environmental coping areas of
the mind, the mental aspect.
Habits are easily acquired and almost
assuredly not eradicable by the individu-
al. Some examples are nail biting, ignor-
ing familiar things in your environment,
bicycle riding, reactions of anger, fear and
other social prompts; think the “family
dance” here. Someone in the family acts
then each family member assumes their
role and “performs” as they have learned.
Environmen-
tally and so-
cially this is
like someone
walking up to
you and push-
ing a button
after which
you react with
a social role.
This leads us
to the acquisi-
tion and
maintenance
of coping skills
which, no
doubt you’ve
heard so much
about. Think-
ing changes,
bad habits in-
crease, mal-adaptations increase and
abound. We cope with our environment
by selectively increasingly using less ef-
fective skills and we deplete our reper-
toire of “people skills”― coping skills. Our
thinking and emotions become more and
more distorted.
The spiritual level is connected to these
other individual traits and aspects. We
have no Guiding Light to control this me-
nagerie of self, so we end up on pages 60
through 62.
One can see that there are a great num-
ber of ways attacks by Demon Rum can
Continued on page 4
4 COMMON BOND
Page 4 The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
Strange mental twist Continued from page 3 come individually and in a great many
combinations.
You now see the problem of why
these assaults on one’s sobriety are so
mysterious, murky and whimsically
frustrating.
I found my solution to early aware-
ness of the strange mental twist in the
work of then Father Damian, now St.
Damian, with lepers on the island of
Molokai in Hawaii.
Father Damian saw that it wasn’t
Hansen’s disease which caused the se-
vere disfigurations of lepers. The
cause was physical injuries which
went untreated because lepers lose nerve
feeling. Injuries are not felt, therefore
remain untreated, they fester and dam-
age ensues, causing the grotesqueries,
which so repulsed others and ostracized
them, leading to even poorer outcomes.
Father Damian created what he termed
a “physical surveillance exercise.” It con-
sisted of teaching the leper to continually
check his physical wellbeing for cuts
bruises and other assaults to the integri-
ty of the leper’s body. The leper was
taught to go over all the skin he could
reach and feel for or look to see, any blood
or irregularities to his skin. The leper
further got another person’s aid to ob-
serve the areas he couldn’t check by him-
self. Any problems were dealt with im-
mediately so would not become infected.
The lepers were trained by Father Dami-
an to do this physical surveillance exer-
cise at roughly fifteen minute intervals.
It worked wonderfully for the lepers on
Molokai.
I saw that we alcoholics had an almost
identical problem as the lepers of Molo-
kai! A physical surveillance inventory
would be useless to us recovering/
recovered alcoholics. We alcoholics need
a mental surveillance exercise. I could
easily use the daily inventory and the
spot check inventory to achieve a similar
outcome for us. We can use the old rule
of being out of sorts ― Hungry, Angry,
Lonely, Tired — as part of a mental sur-
veillance exercise. Putting HALT togeth-
er with the acronym from The Doctor’s
Opinion ― Restless, Irritable, and Discon-
tented — gives us the acronym of HALT-
RID.
Page 4 COMMON BOND
Continued on page 5
Sober thoughts (Helpful quotes for the AA way of life)
Success is not built on what we accomplish for ourselves. Its’ foundation lies in what we do for others. – Danny Thomas
Page 5 The Newsletter of the Bladen, Cumberland and Robeson Central Office
Strange mental twist Continued from page 4
Now one can continually monitor him-
self for emotional turmoil. The Alky
needs to practice this spot check using
HALT-RID all through the day, catching
up in his daily written inventory at night.
My experience told me this would
work. In cases of confusion one would
seek spiritual aid through prayer and
meditation. One would also talk with a
wise trusted friend if he needed to.
So, I tried this on myself and it worked.
I taught it to my pigeons and it worked if
they would do it.
The key to self regulation is, as usual,
embedded in inventory, prayer, medita-
tion and help from a trusted friend. You
must, however, practice it until the proce-
dure becomes habitual. Start by writing
down the acronym, do the “mental sur-
veillance exercise each time you get into
your auto, do it before and after meet-
ings, do it before you pray and after. Do
it each time you call someone in AA.
Make a daily call list in the morning of
people to call and do the mental surveil-
lance exercise before and after each call.
Do it before and after you use your cell
phone, meals, toilet breaks. Just do it
until it becomes habitual.
I have found that good habits are very
important to good sobriety or any sobriety
for that matter. I’ve also learned that bad
habits will kill.
Sober thoughts (Helpful quotes for the AA way of life)
We prove what we want to prove, and the real difficulty is to know what we want to prove.
– Emile Chartier
Pain makes man think, thought makes man wise, wisdom makes life endurable.
– William Styron
The most important thing in communi-cation is to hear what isn’t being said.
– Peter Drucker
Upcoming
events Dec. 2 Chris G. – 29
Dec. 3 Carole V. – 26
Brian C. – 5 Dec. 4
Kenneth L. – 15 Dec. 5
Dody H. – 46 Dec. 6
Nat T. – 38 Dec. 8
Jim B. – 46 Dec. 10
Nathan D. – 18 Dec. 11
Julie C. – 13 Dec. 12
Beverly R. – 21 Glenn L. – 7 Audrey – 6 Joel L. – 6 Dec. 13
Krista C. – 10 Dec. 15
Sherry B. – 10 Dec. 16
Gene G. – 32 Sherry B. – 20
Dec. 17 Judy S. – 11
Dec. 18 Osh – 9
Red M. – 30 Dec. 19
Warren B. – 15 Dec. 20
Tracy C. – 12 Dec. 21
Rusty V. – 11 Dec. 22
Bob W. – 29 Jena H. – 10 Jenna H. – 9
Dec. 24 Jerold B. – 13
Dec. 25 Rick L. - 6 Dec. 26
Sylvia E. – 31 Carolyn L. – 17
Michael C. – 6 Dec. 27
Rebecca T. – 10 Dec. 29
Robert K. – 9 Ben. C – 8
Dec. 30 Pat G. – 27
Jan. 1 Andrea HR – 39
Bill B. – 17 Dorothy C. – 17
Joe V. – 14 Jan. 2
Deb F. – 29 Ike H. – 10
Stuart P. – 11 Jan. 4
Adam J. – 13 Larry H. – 10
Jan. 5 Sammy W. – 22
Jan. 6 Teresa V. – 11
Jan. 7 Patti F. – 23
Jan. 8 Angie G. – 30 Bob H. – 16 Jim B. – 31 Jim H. – 9
Mark M. – 9 Megan A. – 9
Jan. 9 Jennifer B. – 20
Sam C. – 11 Jan . 10
Clark B. – 30 Joseph F. – 11
Jack B. – 11 Jan. 11
Mary Catherine – 15
Mary Cathryn M. – 26
Mike P. – 9 Sharon B. – 19
Jan. 13 Brenda F. – 10
Jan. 14 David C. – 24
Jan. 15
Lauren B. – 18
Jan. 16
Alvin M. – 17
Kristin G. – 13
Louise G. – 33
Randy W. – 39
Wayne J. – 19
Jan. 17
Marcia R. – 27
Jan. 20
Mike S. – 10
Jan. 21
Mark B. – 15
Jan. 22
Linda G. – 9
Jan. 23
Carey D. – 16
Jan. 25
Amyn A. – 15
Jan. 26
Joe R. – 18
Jan. 30
Daniel M. – 22
Dawn M. – 9
Jan. 31
Dunkin K. – 37
Beverly R. – 20
Roby R. – 24
6 COMMON BOND
Financial Report for October 2017
A.A. BIRTHDAYS
Balance sheet
Assets
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash - Unrestricted -$318.64 Founders’ Day 1,540.98
Prudent Reserve 2,500.00
Total Assets $3,722.34
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Employee Tax Payable $175.49
Sales Tax Payable 173.62
Total Current Liabilities 349.11
Total Liabilities $349.11
Equity
General fund $1,832.25
Founders’ Day 1,540.98
Total Equity 3,373.23
Total Liabilities and Equity $3,722.34
Revenue
Income & Expenses
Book & Material Sales $650.79
Contributions 512.27
Other revenue 0
Total Revenue 1,163.06
Less book, etc. purchases 1,192.83
Gross Profit Month -29.77
Gross Profit year 1,425.05
Other Income and Expense
Bank Service Charges 0
Hotline Telephone -48.43
Office Expenses 0
Payroll Tax Expense -125.39
Rent -240.83
Telephone/Internet -125.09
Wages and Salaries -232.00
Total -771.65
Income Net Income -801.42
Contributions Sept./Oct Total*
Agnostics & Others 0.00 0.00
Bare Bones 0.00 490.00
Central Group 0.00 0.00
Freedom In Growth 0.00 0.00
Fort Bragg 0.00 0.00
Keep It Simple 0.00 0.00
Principles Group 55.06 55.06
Spring Into Action 0.00 250.00
SOS Group 168.00 168.00
Sandalwood Group 0.00 0.00
ODAT 189.21 604.87
Walking The Same Path 0.00 0.00
Village Group 0.00 0.00
Faithful Fivers/ Ind. 100.00 115.00
Founders’ Day donations 0.00 0.00
Totals $512.27 $1,893.42 *Fiscal year July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018
Send your birthdays to the Central
Office or to the editor at common-
bond2011@ gmail.com.
Continued from page 1
***
Jan. 18-21 Fifty-first Tar Heel
Mid-Winter Confer-
ence at Hilton North
Raleigh, 3415 Wake For-
est Road, Exit 10 off I-440.
For registration infor-
mation go to tar-
heelmidwinter.com
***
Jan. 21 District 51 board
meeting at 3 p.m. Site
to be determined.
***
Feb. 24-25 Area 51 (North Car-
olina) winter meeting
at Sheraton Greensbo-
ro at Four Seasons in
Greensboro.
Members only.