(Part 2) Best products from r/alcoholicsanonymous

https://www.amazon.com/Sermon-Mount-Key-Success-Life/dp/0060628626

You might be talking about this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ANIKUNG/ref=tmm_aiv_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

If you have a Hulu subscription, they have Seasons 1 through 5. That's where I've been binge-watching it. Otherwise, you have to get CBS, either via their "all access" at cbs.com, or by the extension channel in Amazon Prime, I think.

The problem was that the letter from Barry Leach was filed away in 1979 and promptly forgotten. I suppose there must have been a turnover of staff or something.

When Roberts bought the manuscript, he had it scanned and then the scans were published as "The Book That Started It All", in 2010. I may be mistaken, but I have heard that inside the front cover was Lois's inscription to Barry Leach. Perhaps it was this publication that tipped AA World Service to examine their files and to try to trace the provenance of the manuscript. This may have led to the discovery of the Gifting Letter, and once the location of the manuscript was determined, AA moved to freeze it in place, and take legal action to enforce what they view as their title to the manuscript, and to attempt to take possession of it.

Sotheby's had no idea in the 2004 or the 2007 auctions that title to it was clouded, and frankly, neither did anyone else. The fault lies, in my opinion, with whoever removed the copies of the letter from the will of Barry Leach, and from the manuscript itself. The Letter clearly shows Mr. Leach's intent, especially since he had it notarized.

This was nothing traumatic in my childhood that I can blame on me being an alcoholic. It might make a good plot line in TV but it's not what makes the majority of alcoholics drink. I've been to thousands of real life AA meetings and alcoholics with bad childhoods are in the same proportion as non-alcoholics in the general population with bad childhoods i.e. relatively few and far between.

What makes me drink is that feeling of ease and comfort a drink gives me but the problem is I can't stop at just one drink. Once I take that first drink I get a "taste" - a craving for more. In order to stay sober first of all I have to avoid taking that first drink because it's the first drink that gets me drunk, not the 5th or 6th or 10th. It's the first one that sets off the craving. Of course this is easier said than done. If I could just decide not to drink then I wouldn't be an alcoholic. My mind plays tricks with me and tells me that this time it'll be different, this time I'll be able to take that one drink just to take the edge off and stop at that even though I've rarely been able. Over time my drinking becomes worse and my binges more frequent. It always got worse never better but my mind tells me the opposite.

What AA does is provide a structured program to deal with the every day tensions of life which build up and make an alcoholic like me think that it would be a good idea to take that first drink. These days, and as a result of putting AA's program into action I rarely even think about drinking plus my life is much more richer and fulfilling that it has ever been.

The book "Living Sober" is a good starter.

https://www.amazon.com/Living-Sober-AA-Services/dp/B0048C7TFA/

Before we got married, my wife had two "stalkers" like this. Annoying, creepy, but nothing criminal. One had a traumatic brain injury and the other guy had a different disorder. Subtle hints that she was not interested did nothing. She never tried the direct approach, and I'm not sure that it would have worked. Cognitive dissonance was big with these guys.

Gavin de Becker is a security expert, and in his book he says many of these types of guys are clueless, but harmless. Of course, some cross the line to harmful. His recommendation was to starve the stalker of any attention until they shifted their focus elsewhere. He found that threats or restraining orders were counter productive in most situations.