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Good afternoon, everyone. My name is TJ, and I've decided that I now realize that I

qualify for every 12-step program imaginable. I used to actually say that I didn't qualify

for gamblers anonymous because I've never gambled, and then my life experience sober

has shown me that I did some very high-risk behavior that landed me in a really dark place,

and I'm going to hopefully get into that. I want to begin by offering a quote from Bill

Wilson. At least I'm not sure if this is actually a quote from Bill Wilson, but at an international

conference, I think it was 10 years ago, an old-timer said it was, and I told Lee that

Bill Wilson signed my big book, and she believed me for a moment, and I said, I'm actually

not that old, but I did do it in a way that maybe he did. I don't know. Here it is from

Bill Wilson. AA is not a success story, but a story of human failure transformed into

usefulness by the alchemy of a loving God. I want to say it again because when I heard

that at that conference some years back, it struck me to the core. AA is not a success

story, but a story of human failure transformed into usefulness by the alchemy of a loving God.

I'm struck by the knowing that there are thousands of ways to tell a story, and I like to

begin, when I talk, I like to begin by setting an intention not for anybody else but for

myself, and that intention is simply that I be vulnerable and authentic. I also know

that I don't have to give details. I don't have to give my fourth step up here. I also know

that it may be what I need to do in order to stay sober today. I am absolutely willing. There's

...