About VIR:
I am a
veterinarian working the AA steps. It has not been
hard to find AA
meetings while
attending CE
conferences, but many are difficult to
navigate
street
directions or
inconvenient to attend without severely
compromising
attendance at the CE function. It is
hoped this Internet site can
help
overcome these
difficulties.
As a side benefit, it is hoped veterinarians
in
recovery will find each other at meetings
and become
colleagues in recovery
as well as in veterinary
medicine ... "two can make a meeting". "
I am
responsible . . . When anyone,
anywhere, reaches out for
help, I
want the hand of A.A.
always to be there. And for that: I
am
responsible.
… to place our common welfare first;
... For on A.A. unity depend our lives,
And the
lives of those to
come."
Copyright
©
Alcoholics Anonymous World
Services,
Inc
There are no dues, fees or donations required or requested for using this site ...
The site
has two
main functions:
Help veterinarians find
recovery
meetings when they travel to conventions and other
continuing
education (CE)
sessions
These functions will be accomplished by:
Listing veterinary CE meetings and allowing veterinarians visiting VIR to post information anonymously about available recovery meetings (AA, NA, etc) that will be in the area of a particular CE meeting.
Coordinating time and location for veterinarians in recovery to meet at CE meetings
Right Click the VIR logo above and print a copy to take with you
Place the printed VIR logo on the table when you eat breakfast, lunch, supper and/or at a break.
If one of us, a veterinarian in recovery familiar with this Internet site, spots the VIR logo we can introduce ourselves ...
If someone who is unfamiliar with VIR asks about the logo ... tell them you're not sure ... maybe "VETERINARIANS IN RESEARCH" ...
While HONESTY is the most important thing in recovery, side stepping the meaning of the VIR logo to protect your anonymity or the anonymity of others in recovery may be more important
MAJOR Veterinary CE Meeting List and AA contact information:
| CE Name | Meeting Link | LocEachYr | Month | AA Meeting Links |
| AAVLD | http://www.aavld.org | Varies | October | http://www.aastpaul.org/ |
| AABP | http://www.aabp.org/ | Varies | September | http://www.aastpaul.org/ |
| AAEP | http://www.aaep.org/ | Varies | March | http://www.aasanantonio.org/ |
| AAHA | http://www.aahanet.org/ | Varies | December | http://www.daccaa.org/ |
| AASV | http://www.aasv.org | Varies | March | http://www.aaorlandointergroup.org/ |
| ACVC | http://www.acvc.org/ | Same | October | none found |
| AVC | http://avc-beef.org | Varies | Apr,Aug,Dec | http://www.daccaa.org/ |
| AVMA | http://avmaconvention.org/ | Varies | July | http://www.aa-dc.org/ |
| CVC | http://www.cvccentral.com/ | Same | August | http://www.kc-aa.org/ |
| NAVC | http://www.tnavc.org | Same | January | http://www.aaorlandointergroup.org/ |
| SWVS | http://www.swvs.org/ | Same | September | http://www.fortworthaa.org/ |
| WVC | http://www.wvc.org/ | Same | February | http://www.lvcentraloffice.org/ |
| WWC | http://www.wildwestvc.com | Same | October | http://www.aanorthernnevada.org/ |
The site is under construction and not all of the above functions are currently available ...
http://www.xa-speakers.org/pafiledb.php ...
Awesome
Shared Documents:
Useful passages
...
... How it works:
Rarely have we seen a person
fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who
do not recover are
people who will
not completely give
themselves to this simple program,
usually men and women
who
are constitutionally incapable of being
honest with
themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not
at
fault; they seem to have been born
that way. They are
naturally
incapable of grasping and
developing a manner of
living which demands
rigorous honesty. Their chances are
less than average. There are
those
too, who suffer from
grave
emotional and mental disorders, but many of
them do
recover if they have the capacity to be honest.
Our stories disclose in a
general way what we used to be like, what happened, and
what we are
like now. If you have
decided you want what we
have and are willing to
go to any length to get it —then
you are ready to take
certain
steps.
At some of these we balked. We
thought we could find an easier softer way. But we could
not. With all
the earnestness at our
command, we beg of you
to be fearless and
thorough from the very start. Some of
have tried to hold on to our
old
ideas and the result was
nil
until we let go absolutely.
Remember that we deal with
alcohol- cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it
is too much for
us. But there is One
who has all power-
that one is God. May you find
Him Now!
Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at
the turning point. We asked His protection and care with
complete
abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are
suggested as a program of recovery:
1: We admitted we were powerless
over alcohol - that our lives had become
unmanageable.
2: Came to believe that a Power
greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
3: Made a decision to turn our
will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood Him.
4: Made a searching and fearless
and thorough moral inventory of ourselves.
5: Admitted to God, to ourselves,
and to another human being, the exact nature of our
wrongs.
6: Were entirely ready to have God
remove all these defects of character.
7: Humbly asked Him to remove our
shortcomings.
8: Made a list of all persons we
had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them
all.
9: Made direct amends to such
people, wherever possible, except when to do so would
injure them or
others.
10: Continued to take personal inventory and
when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11: Sought
through
prayer and meditation to
improve our conscious
contact with God as we
understood Him, praying only for
knowledge of His will for us and
the
power to carry that
out.
12: Having had
a
spiritual awakening as the result
of these steps, we
tried to
carry
this message to alcoholics, and to practice
these principles in all
or
affairs.
Many of us exclaimed, "What an
order I can't go through with it." Do not be
discouraged. No one among
us has been
able to maintain
anything like perfect adherence to these
principles. We are
not saints.
The point is, that we are willing to
grow along
spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are
guides
to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than
spiritual
perfection.
Our description of
the
alcoholic, the chapter to the
agnostic, and our
personal adventures
before and after make clear three
pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not
manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have
relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were
sought.
… the principles of AA
promises?
If we are painstaking about
this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we
are half way through.
We are going to know a new
freedom and a new happiness.
We will not regret the past
nor wish to shut the door on it.
We will comprehend the word
serenity and we will know peace.
No matter how far down the
scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can
benefit others.
That feeling of uselessness
and self pity will disappear.
We will lose interest in
selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
Self-seeking will slip
away.
Our whole attitude and
outlook upon life will change.
Fear of people and of
economic insecurity will leave us.
We will intuitively know
how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
We will suddenly realize
that God is doing for us what we could not do for
ourselves.
Are these
extravagant promises? We think not. They are being
fulfilled among
us—sometimes quickly,
sometimes slowly.
They will
always
materialize if we work for them.
2nd, 3rd, and 4th edition Big Book page 83 &
84