I get it! When I first  crawled  into my first 12 step meeting I was alone and beaten. I had no place to go but up.  I didn’t know one person in that strange group of men and women united by their addiction.  All I knew is that I might be one of them –that is, an alcoholic. Dread! But  I found a group of men and women who were no longer strangers. I came in the group that day thinking I was  only a guest there for a brief appearance. I didn’t really want to be there. I knew that I probably didn’t belong.

By the time this meeting adjourned I was no longer a stranger nor a guest. I felt I found a home. I no longer felt shame or guilt, These folks were the “real deal.” I felt welcome.  They spoke about me and all that troubled me. The only  thing was that they were speaking of their own lives–and it sounded just like my life. Their lives and battle with alcohol was my battle too.

Then came my greatest curse, so I thought. It popped up soon after I had a few years of sobriety and sanity. It was a darkness that filled my body like a poisonous liquid  gradually filling me up from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head. It all began unnoticed at first,  then the poison immobilized me  like the poisonous sting of a Black Widow spider. I had to battle to get myself out of bed in the morning. I began to feel fright. What was happening to me?

In time, the answer would come and the solution which I pursued like a praying monk, finally freed me. Thanks to the “miracle of the group” my 12 step fellowship .  I am free today.  I thank God, my Higher Power, for leading me to that group of alcoholics who gave me a key that released me  from my addictions–alcohol and depression. Now I want to share with you and anyone that needs to hear what I have to say: I know for sure that the key that I have in my hand will fit any lock that imprisons you in pain and despair.

READ ABOUT ALL THOSE FOLKLS WHO HAVE USED THIS KEY. CHECK IT OUT. SEE VISIT THE STORE.

SOURCE: Depressed Anonymous, 3rd edition. (2011) Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville.

PERSONAL STORIES SECTION (31  STORIES OF PEOPLE WHO USE THE KEY  ). Pages 111-152.