Over the past weekend, July 22-24, 2011 Gatehouse Academy allowed several of the women in the community to attend the 26th annual Prescott Shoestring Roundup. The Shoestring Roundup is a three day event where those in recovery or that have the desire to stop drinking participate in fellowship, marathon meetings, speaker meetings, fun, and much, much more. I was surprised to be chosen as one of the women to go on the weekend getaway being that I am so new at Gatehouse and my sobriety; however, I was more than thrilled to have the opportunity to attend. The Roundup was a new and exciting experience for me. I had never been around so many people in recovery and who had years and years of sobriety, it was an eye-opener to see that I was not alone and I could do this, much like all the attendees. During the Roundup, I was able to chair one of the AA marathon meetings. Our topic was personal spiritual experiences, and although I have yet to have an awakening of sorts, it was enlightening hearing other people’s stories. I learned that these spiritual experiences do not have to happen in your first days of sobriety and that it is not just limited to one experience. These experiences help people understand and awaken to see the “light” in their recovery, it helps them reflect and see others’ points of view. I look forward to the day and/or days that I have my own spiritual experiences. All in all, the Shoestring Roundup was a lot of fun and it was a great step for me in my recovery. I even got the opportunity to be of service and chair one of the marathon meetings. All in all, it was a great experience and I hope that I get the opportunity to go to more roundups in the future.
