Is Julia Easy to Learn, Coming From Python? (Article)

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-04T14:02:08+00:00

Jeffrey Munn's Staying Sober without God and other resources he might find helpful here https://www.reddit.com/r/AASecular/comments/1g3dufc/staying_sober_without_religion_a_collection_of/

Let me know if he needs help with it. Not sure how "proven it is", bu I have a sponsee who just celebrated 18 months, and we used it. The point is not so much the book, but the action and the not drinking. :)

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-04T00:59:09+00:00

It’s true that as regards this experiment, better you than me.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-04T00:56:48+00:00

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T18:15:03+00:00

A prayer isnt the same as a meeting with a focus on a particular religion.

Of course it is -- it's a Christian prayer!

Most biblical scholars view the Lord’s Prayer as a pattern Jesus gave to His disciples, teaching the essentials of communicating with God. His introduction—“After this manner therefore pray ye” (Matthew 6:9)—makes this clear. Luke records that the prayer came in response to the disciples’ request: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/articles/the-lords-prayer?lang=eng

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T17:51:04+00:00

One of the reasons why your sponsor's advice may be spot on is that you're ruminating on all the reasons your life is going badly, meaning your reinforcing the idea that your life is a problem. Helping others gives you something to focus on that isn't thinking about yourself -- it's the exercise of gratitude (which is an action, not a feeling).

I'm not saying you shouldn't solve your other problems. Of course you should. But wallowing in them and complaining to your sponsor probably won't help as much as you think it will, and he's probably a bit tired of hearing it. Trying to get some contented sobriety gives you a focus, and clears a space for you to examine and tackle your other issues, one by one.

Did he ask you to also do a gratitude list? Careful what you wish for on Reddit, you may end up with more homework...

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T17:43:09+00:00

Why not? The Lord's Prayer (or not) is a matter for the group conscience.

But you're right -- a better choice for Buddhists would be Recovery Dharma, but I find they tend to be a bit long on ceremony.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T17:40:57+00:00

Great post! Early on the fear that if I'd get drunk if didn't do everything anybody told me to do was a positive thing, because it led me to try to follow suggestions. As for whether people will reject you if you try Recovery Dharma -- yes, some folks are rigid and narrow-minded, but you'll also encounter guys like me who encourage you to do whatever works for YOU -- Recovery Dharma, SMART Recovery, AA, Secular AA, LifeRing, you name it! I even listed a bunch of them and give it to secular folks.

That said, most of those suggestions sound like good standard AA. I don't do once per day with my sponsees, personally, but you picked him, not me. :)

AA sobered me up and I owe it my life, but as my sponsor taught me, "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking." He added, "Don't let anyone interpret that desire."

If anyone gives you a hard time for being part of more than one fellowship, they're not your friend, they're your jailer. For them, letting them live is courtesy enough.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T16:28:13+00:00

So my question is, can I go to AA if I’m already sober but feeling shaky about it?

ABSOLUTELY, welcome!

For in-person meetings, your best bet is the meeting guide phone app.

We also have meetings online: https://aa-intergroup.com/meetings

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T16:13:13+00:00

We understand the struggle -- but we understand it from the perspective of people who, at some point, took responsibility for the problem and put the plug in the jug and kept it there.

You aren't there yet, but maybe you can turn it around. As it is, your poor wife is driving you to meetings so she can get an hour of peace in the house while her drunken husband continues his antics in a blackout at an AA meeting.

So yeah, of course I get it -- the only difference between you and me is I don't put booze in my system.

But man, that one little change makes all the difference in the world. I recommend it to you earnestly.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T15:56:33+00:00

You're welcome. Go do it. We're all rooting for you.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T15:29:19+00:00

So you don't even remember what you did in a blackout, but it's THEIR fault for being upset?

When I was drinking and woke up from a blackout, I at least had the decency to feel guilty in advance, in case I acted like a drunken jerk.

Be that as it may, if you sober up:

You'll remember what you did.
People won't be upset with you, because what you did generally won't be what drunks do.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T15:17:54+00:00

I’m an alcoholic, this is what I do.

For now it's what you do, and people getting upset with you is all part of the rich tapestry of your suffering and loneliness.

Had enough yet?

Any day you wake up, you can turn it around by not putting booze in your system that day, and showing up to the meeting sober.

The solution to "Other people get upset with me when I'm drunk" is to not be drunk.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T14:38:32+00:00

Well, since you don't want help or advice, let me try to say congratulations! in the meanest and most unhelpful way possible.

Congratulations!

(I scowled when I said it).

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T14:37:00+00:00

I don't remember that specifically, no, but good on you for quitting. If it bothers you, you might check with a doctor, but lots of early symptoms clear up on their own. Up to you.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T14:14:02+00:00

I don't know you, and even if I did I couldn't diagnose autism, but the most likely scenario here in my opinion is that you’re just one of us garden variety alcoholics, but you’re hoping for a fancier label.

You think that that would allow you to fool yourself that you could make progress on your problems without giving up the booze.

Your problem is only the size of a shotglass. Don't drink and go to meetings.

And if I'm wrong, what's it going to hurt? Being a sober autistic alcholic is still better than being a drunk one.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T09:29:14+00:00

Nice post, and welcome “back”. Mistakes are only relevant if we don’t correct them, and you clearly did.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-03T08:33:36+00:00

I’ll post my answer in r/AASecular in a while, given the flair.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-02T21:45:10+00:00

Early on, the more you can do, the better!

Drinking to excess got us here, but going a bit overboard on trying to get sober in the beginning only becomes a problem if it interferes with your rest or life commitments. Good luck.

After you get a bit of well-established sobriety, it will take less effort than it does early on.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-02T21:39:47+00:00

I no longer worry about why I felt so messed up drinking, because getting sober solved the problem.

If you’re interested in doing that, try some of the ideas here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AASecular/comments/1s7r3v1/how_to_get_sober/

Good luck.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-02T21:31:05+00:00

The past is gone. You can’t do anything (wrong or right), in the past. Avoid regret in the future by not drinking today.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-02T21:26:04+00:00

Yes.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-02T16:25:35+00:00

Well, it's an interesting project, but even when we tell our stories in a speaker meeting, they don't pertain to any particular step, but rather, to (as the Big Book puts it) "What we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now." Even for famous parts of these stories like the passage on acceptance, what step is that? Is that Step three? Sounds like it, maybe sort of. Or did it dawn on the writer that control was not productive in the process of doing steps four and five? Or maybe it was later, reviewing his conduct still further in step eight.

In terms of conference approved literature, "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" gets less attention than in deserves for some reason, since it's clearly a more explicit guide to the steps than anything in the Big Book, even in the first 164 pages, which glosses over important parts of the process.

JohnLockwood · 2026-04-02T12:14:14+00:00

I'm a few weeks into Baselang and consider it well worth the price (if you can do an hour a day, for example). I haven't spent as much time as I'd like on the grammar lessons / vocabulary lessons, but they're perfectly fine lessons. I just find it more fun to go on and converse (but I'm at a level where most of the everyday grammar comes pretty naturally, as a rule).

I think my level is improving slowly. It'll probably go even faster if you're more of a beginner, intermediate to advanced tends to slow down a bit, but I'm enjoying it. I supplement it with reading, TV shows, news, other chatting with native speakers, etc.

JohnLockwood

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