Fat Charlie's Diary
About Us
About Me
I'm Jim Puckett.
I'm an recovered alcholic and compulsive overeater; that is the single most important fact about me.
(here are
some links
to speaker tapes (we still call 'em speaker tapes, even though these are ma4 files :)
It is also the one thing (or two things? depends on how you count, or how you define) that
will
never change
- no matter what. I can change my hair length or color (and I have) - my profession
or my geographical location or my marital status(and I have) - my habits, my religion, and my nickname
(and I have) - give me money and motivation and I could fly to Denmark and change my gender (haven't
done that one yet) - but whoever, wherever or whatever I am, I'll be an alcoholic and a compulsive overeater.
In fact, the way I choose to phrase it is, that is what I *am* - all of those other things (father, husband,
student, employee, Episcopalian, runner, Crimson Tide football fan) are
roles
, things that I
do
. I'm not a father,
I'm an alcoholic with kids; I'm not a husband, I'm an alcoholic with a wife; I'm not an employee, I'm an alcholic
with a job. I'm not a Crimson Tide fan; I'm an alcoholic who knows that the Tennessee game is gonna be
ugly
. That's the pattern - I'm not that thing; I'm an alcoholic/compulsive overeater DOING that thing.
A few years back, I was standing in the lobby of our office building, and somebody walking over to me said
"Hey, Jim - aren't you a database programmer?" and - before I could answer - the receptionist said "No, he's
an alcoholic". So I suppose this pattern has been fairly well expressed :)
This keeps me mindful of my main job, which is practicing the Twelve Steps in all of my affairs. If I start thinking
that I'm a father or a husband, I'll think I'm supposed to be Ward Cleaver - and I'll fail utterly. If I start thinking that
I'm an employee, then I'll start thinking that I'm supposed to be climbing the corporate ladder or watching my
back; if I start thinking that I'm a runner, then I'll start thinking that I'm supposed to be
fast
. But if I'm just a drunk
doing these things, then I'll remember - "practice these principles in
all of our affairs
."
However, those other roles are a lot of fun (and a lot of work, and they take a lot of my time! :) and these pages
waste a lot of bandwidth talking about 'em.
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Fat Charlie's Diary