marinadock.org

Non-Profit Corporation

The Marina Dock Newsletter October 2002

Dear Marina Dock members and patrons alike,

Thank you for you much needed moral and financial support. I would like to thank everyone who over the last six difficult months came through for us by way of a contribution. Just to remind everyone we are a "one of a kind" operation when it comes to a twelve step meeting facility and social club. We have a great location; great atmosphere and we are open 18 hours a day with a midnight meeting on Friday and Saturday night.

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A REMINDER ON MEETINGS

We have quite a few smaller twelve step groups like Gamblers Anonymous on Wednesday evening and we have space for another one if anyone is interested in starting it on Friday evening. We also have two very popular Nicotine Anonymous meetings on Monday evening and Saturday morning. Check our schedule for times. I would like to take an opportunity here to congratulate my friend and colleague Richard W on his success in quitting cigarettes. He told me he could not have accomplished this without the support of Nicotine Anonymous.

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age of uncertainty

I think it's fair to say everyone is worried about the economy, the prospect of war, and an overall collective sense of trepidation about the future. We (the recovery community) have met these challenges in the past and have come through with fortitude and faith. We are comforted by "the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that we are no longer isolated in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things - these are the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions could possibly be substitutes." (12 X 12 page 124).

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IN BRIEF: GROWING OLD, FEELING BETTER

A close study of the daily emotional ups and downs of 184 adults indicates that the old generally feel better than the young do - or at least feel bad less often. The subjects of the study who ranged from 18 to 94 were equipped with pagers and signaled to record their moods on a scale of 1-7 of intensity five times a day for a week. It was a diverse group: 70% white, 30% black, 54% female, 59% white-collar and rest blue collar, 26% single, 43% married, 19% widowed and 13% divorced. Anxiety, anger, sadness, fear, guilt, embarrassment, frustration and boredom declines steadily until age sixty and then remained at the same low level. Even when older people did have those feelings they didn't last as long as they did in the young. The young and the old were equally likely to report being happy, proud, amused or interested. Even excitement did not decline with age, and in general, the intensity of feelings did not change. However, older people reported more complex emotions, including nostalgia and other mixed feelings. The authors note that other surveys less attuned to the moment and concentrating more on overall attitudes, have also found that older people are more satisfied with their lives than the young. They believe the cause is a change in priorities resulting from recognition of the fragility of life and a clearer understanding of what is important. (Harvard Mental Health Vol 18, June 2002).

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NEW MEMBERS ARE VITAL TO OUR SURVIVAL

Right now, we have about 180 members currently on our list; it's simply not enough to keep us afloat. Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle ran a feature story about the "mass exodus" out of the city. A number in the region of 60,000 people have left San Francisco since the Dot Com meltdown of earlier this year. We along with other groups around the city are obviously impacted by these events. I know attendance at the meetings is down citywide. Meanwhile our expenses remain at the same level there were during the so-called boom. We are working towards reducing our costs particularly our rent but it is a process and it takes time for things to evolve. I am confident that we will survive at this great location and continue to carry the message to the many people reaching out in need of our services.

Until next time the solution is love.

Anthony T Murray (Irish Tony)