Well, I guess it just seems like the longest month. How many times can I read, "Who cares to admit complete defeat?" and not feel that familiar twinge of oh, no, not again!
I can't say I got religion, after twenty years in the program of Debtors Anonymous, but I can say I got spirituality. In the beginning, I just wanted to get out of debt. Then my vision shifted to an urge to make piles of money. Gradually I began to realize that money was just a symptom of a deeper problem, the problem between me and life.
The promise of a spiritual awakening from working the Twelve Steps didn't seem like much of a reward to me in the beginning, but I showed up anyway, grumbling morosely the whole way. Despite my self-centered resentment, my life got better.
Here is what I did:
- I stopped borrowing money.
- I tracked my income and expenses.
- I learned to live within my means.
- I faithfully went to meetings.
- I worked the Twelve Steps with a sponsor.
- I sponsored others.
- I volunteered for service.
After eleven years, I paid off my credit cards and built a small cash reserve.
Around that same time, I finally got a job that met my needs.
Somewhere along the way, I found a tiny bit of humility. Enough humility to be glad that January is a long month. Hey, it's a start.
Keep coming back.
—Hope
compulsive debtor
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"Hope
Newlyfound" is an alias for an anonymous member of the program of Debtors
Anonymous with twenty years of freedom from incurring unsecured debt (which
means no credit cards, credit lines, bouncing checks, paying bills late, and
borrowing from friends and family.)
Information about D.A.
can be found at the Debtors Anonymous world
service website, and locally in the Pacific
Northwest at the Oregon intergroup website and the Seattle/Puget sound intergroup website.
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