entral office the common bond -...

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

Make contact with the Central Office

Common Bond editor: Dave C. at com-

[email protected]

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


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


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


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.

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