MyTravels

Time Magazines 100 icons/heros of the century-Bill W

AP Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson, a.k.a. Bill W.

Bill Wilson
From the rubble of a wasted life, he overcame alcoholism and founded the 12-step program that has helped millions of others do the same
By SUSAN CHEEVER

Dubious Influences: Century's Villains and Antiheroes
Five Captivating Romances: When Love Was the Adventure

Monday, June 14, 1999
Second Lieut. Bill Wilson didn't think twice when the first butler he had ever seen offered him a drink. The 22-year-old soldier didn't think about how alcohol had destroyed his family. He didn't think about the Yankee temperance movement of his childhood or his loving fiance Lois Burnham or his emerging talent for leadership. He didn't think about anything at all. "I had found the elixir of life," he wrote. Wilson's last drink, 17 years later, when alcohol had destroyed his health and his career, precipitated an epiphany that would change his life and the lives of millions of other alcoholics. Incarcerated for the fourth time at Manhattan's Towns Hospital in 1934, Wilson had a spiritual awakening — a flash of white light, a liberating awareness of God — that led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous and Wilson's revolutionary 12-step program, the successful remedy for alcoholism. The 12 steps have also generated successful programs for eating disorders, gambling, narcotics, debting, sex addiction and people affected by others' addictions. Aldous Huxley called him "the greatest social architect of our century."

03.16.2005 - Early Morning

G'day!   It is 05:36 in the morning here, and surprisingly there are no other wack-a-doos using the internet stations at this time other than me.  HA!   Oh, except for the girl who just came in.   So that makes 2 of us crazies... Due to my unplanned excursion yesterday, I failed to complete my mission of obtaining a watch so I still don't know what freakin' time it is here at any given moment!   My travel clock is still on Boston time (LET IT GO... LET IT GO...)   I have to be at the front desk today by 7:30am to plan my second touring excursion of the South Islands.  It is a 9 day minimum tour which ends in Christchurch.  I get to take a little puddle jumper plane ride from Wellington to Kaikoura and then I will pick up a bus which will take me to Picton, Nelson, Westport, Greymouth, Franz Josef, Fox Glacier Haast, Wanaka, Queenstown, Dunedin, Oamaru, Tekapo and then finally Christchurch.   I am flying out from Christchurch to head over to Fiji on April 3rd so this little "Magic Bus/Plane Pass" will work out perfect!   It is the Southern Tour that I have to straight away this morning at 7:30am.

Today I am heading North.  My first stop is Taupo, and I will check in to a new hostel called Taupo Urban Retreat (Details listed under links).   I will stay in Taupo for 2 nights and then head over to Roturua for 2 nights, staying in the Treks Backpackers hostel.   I talked to a bunch of the local people and I was told to check out the Polynesian Pools in Roturua... Princess here heard the word "spa", I am ALL OVER IT!   I will definitely let you know how I make out there.

I also forgot to share that I have offically had my first "Dumb American" (extreme blonde) moment.   I bought a new battery charger for my new digital Camera (Canon Powershot A95, LOVE IT!) which came with a voltage converter for overseas.   I also have all the converter plugs for all the countries I am visiting.... So far so good right?   Um, no....  Blondie over here forgot to insert the voltage converter in between the NZ outlet converter and my digital battery charger...  It only took about 45 seconds before I heard a little "poof" and saw a bit of black smoke emerge from the wall socket... DOH!   So now my battery charger is fried, and I am quite sure the socket in my room is useless as well.   Luckily I brought a pack of extra AA batteries which will have to do from this point forward.  I was so mad at myself because for once I actually had all the right power converters I needed and I still blew it!  No pun intended... LOL  MLD>> Dumb American....

I obsessed about losing my battery charger for approximately an hour, and then I finally let it go since there was but nothing I could do to change it... I think I have heard this kinda talk somewhere???   hmmm???

I was pleased to see that my next hostel has hot water laundry facilities and a cafe on-site.   It also has internet access but not free.   One thing I have noticed around Wellington is that there a ton of internet cafes everywhere and the few that I tried were very cheap considering. 

When I arrive in Taupo today, the first thing I have to do is laundry as I have quickly gone through my minimal clothing selection.   I did handwash my fabulous Nikey outfit last night so that I have something relatively clean to wear for my long bus ride today.   Luckily the material for that matching outfit dries super quick.   I am not sure what I am going to do in Taupo just yet, but I do know that by staying in the hostels you find out great information for activities which fit into your budget.   I do hear that Taupo has the cheapest and best skydiving... Hmmmmm....

BTW-I had my room to myself here at the Wildlife House again!   Two nights of privacy, I know I got lucky but I am so grateful because I needed both nights of rest to get on with time zone change.  And why do I feel like I am absorbing the local accent?   Probably because it sounds so cool!   I love the NZ accent!

Well, my next update will be from Taupo.   I am going to check my budget today and see how I am doing.   Since I have barely spent any money in Wellington the past few days, except for a gift for my nephew and my mum, I think so far I am ahead of my daily budget.... 

So far, so good...

Wisdom for Today

"The true significance of the work "meek"  in the Bible is a mental attitude for which there is no other single word available, and it is this mental attitude which is the secret of "prosperity" or success in prayer. It is a combination of open-mindedness, faith in God, and the realization that the Will of God for us is always something joyous and interesting and vital, and much better than anything we could think of for ourselves. This state of mind also includes a perfect willingness to allow the Will of God to come about in whatever Divine Wisdom considers to be best, rather than in some particular way that we have chosen for ourselves."

-Emmett Fox

Random Quotes

"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?" --Stephen Levine

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you." --Frederick Buechner

___________________________________________________________

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." --From the movie Annie

"People change and forget to tell each other." --Lillian Hellman

___________________________________________________________

"Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same." --Flavia Weedn,

"One who cares is one who listens." -- J. Richard Clarke

___________________________________________________________

"A hug is like a boomerang, you get it back right away."-- Family Circus

"Man is at his best when complimented by the influence of a good woman."-- Ezra Taft Benson

02.15.2005

Today's thought is:

Meditation is not a way to enlightenment, nor is it a method of achieving anything at all. It is peace and blessedness itself. It is the actualization of wisdom, the ultimate truth of the oneness of all things.
--Dogen
Translated by Stephen Mitchell

Meditation need not be limited to time spent sitting with our eyes closed. We can practice a type of meditation simply in the way we live our lives each day.

Often, we think about our lives in terms of what we hope to accomplish, but in truth, we don't always have to aim at goals or results. Whatever we are engaged in doing throughout our day, we can cherish the experience of simply being alive and sensing our connection with everything else that is alive. We can remember our unity with others and with Spirit. When we stop focusing on a destination we are striving to reach and instead focus on the present moment in all its fullness, we experience aliveness without struggle and enjoy a deep sense of calm. Paradoxically, when we stop concentrating on effort and relax into being present, giving whatever we are doing all our attention, we find ourselves accomplishing our goals with greater ease.

Today, I relax into being alive in each moment.