This little idea is so powerful, and as far as I am concerned, the key to staying sober while healing toward a better way of life. I attended my first meeting at the Derry Friendship Center on August 24th of 1986. In the early days, I was looking for any positive words that I could hold on to. Over the door of the sober club was a sign that was once white before the smoking meetings turned it yellow. The color didn’t matter. It was the words, “Don’t drink, go to meetings, ask for help, and let it happen.” That was my staying in the solution. I looked at that sign during the meetings. I know, somehow, if I just didn’t drink, my life would get better. At the time, I was facing serious gun charges and could spend the next 3 years behind bars. What didn’t help was that I had no excuse. I was guilty. At the time, there wasn’t a judge on earth who would accept how I was in a blackout and hardly remembered pointing the gun at a VFW dance and threatening a guy and his family, just because they were speaking Spanish. I felt that everyone in the VFW should only speak English.

It took two months for my trial date to arrive. By then, I was attending meetings 7 days a week, and 5 a day on weekends. My lawyer negotiated a one-year suspended sentence with the prosecutor and even secured a conditional discharge. The Judge agreed and told me that if I came before him in the next year for anything, I was going away. I continued with AA meetings while letting it happen.

Today, after almost 40 years sober, that saying is still the most important for me. Let me share one example from the mid-nineties. I owned a self-help book store in North Hampton, Massachusetts. I was a member of a sober motorcycle club with an old Honda Chopper. It had only a 2-gallon tank, so I had to fill it often. One night, I rode the 40 miles to the New York border for a monthly meeting. That night, I forgot to top off the tank. On the way home, the bike ran out of gas. That area was very rural. I drove into this little village with a gas station. Unfortunately, it was closed, and the village looked empty. I coasted up to the pump while thinking,  “Ok God, now is a time for me to stay positive and in the solution.” A young boy, around 12, was sitting on a park bench, fifty feet away. He walked over and asked if I had broken down. I said,  “No, just out of gas.” He replied in what I thought was a sarcastic tone. “You picked a good place to run out of gas, at a gas pump.” I could have gotten angry, but I remained calm. Maybe this was my angle. I responded, “Yeah, but the station is closed if you hadn’t noticed.” His reply brought me right back to reality with the answer I’d somehow been hoping for. “This is my father’s station, and I have the key.” Within minutes, I was on my way with a full tank and wasn’t even charged. It showed me once again that if I look for a solution, miracles will happen.

For many years now, I have been using those simple words over and over. Each time, I am not disappointed when the solution shows itself. It may not be the way I planned or hoped for, but it’s always a solution, and, even better, most of the time.

As I said, this has worked for me for 40 years. Give it a try and wait for yourself; the solution may present itself, right out of the blue, or from that invisible power I call God, Higher Power, or The Universe.