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Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums -> Al-Anon Family Group -> Al-Anon Family Group -> The last boy scout...
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rtexas


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The last boy scout...
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(((Everyone)))


Ok... you can laugh if you want but I was a boy scout.  I find it odd as I have spent time over the last few months taking stock of who I am that I keep coming back to some very ingrained principals that I have adopted and stuck to throughout my life.


Guess I keep trying to figure out why I have made the decissions I have at times.  At a time when things were the worst in my young life with my Afather, I was very active in scouting. 


At meetings or on camp outs I must have said the oath and the law a million times.  (Followed of course by hacking something up with my knife or lighting something on fire... LOL)


Guess I didn't take it all that seriously back then, but I called myself a boy scout tonight as part of my "explanation" of my actions.  I kind of chuckled at myself for saying something so stupid, but all of a sudden the words of the oath and the law were on the tip of my toung and I said... that is the unwritten list I have been holding myself to all these years.


It's a good list, and I don't regret it a bit.  I like who I am.  Just a little supprised how much it influenced my life for my 41 years.  Obviously there are some things I need to add to that duty to self section, but this new family is helping me with that. 


And thank you again (((Family)))!


Take care of you!


Took the following off the boy scout web site.


Boy Scout Oath or Promise

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.




Note that the Boy Scout Oath has traditionally been considered to have three promises.  Those three promises are delineated by the semicolons in the Oath, which divide it into three clauses.  The three promises of the Scout Oath are, therefore:


  • Duty to God and country,
  • Duty to other people, and
  • Duty to self

DUTY TO GOD AND COUNTRY: Your FAMILY and religious leaders teach you to know and serve God. By following these teachings, you do your duty to God.


Men and women of the past worked to make America great, and many gave their lives for their country. By being a good family member and a good citizen, by working for your country's good and obeying its laws, you do your duty to your country. Obeying the Scout Law means living by its 12 points.


DUTY TO OTHER PEOPLE: Many people need help. A cheery smile and a helping hand make life easier for others. By doing a Good Turn daily and helping when you're needed, you prove yourself a Scout and do your part to make this a better world.


DUTY TO SELF: Keeping yourself physically strong means taking care of your body. Eat the right foods and build your strength. Staying mentally awake means learn all you can, be curious, and ask questions. Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.




Boy Scout Law

A Scout is:


  • Trustworthy,
  • Loyal,
  • Helpful,
  • Friendly,
  • Courteous,
  • Kind,
  • Obedient,
  • Cheerful,
  • Thrifty,
  • Brave,
  • Clean,
  • and Reverent.

 



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isabela40


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Hey rtexas,


You are actually NOT the last boyscout over forty.  Add my husband to your "troop" LOL.


Seriously, he too was greatly moved by all he learned and did and he says that it shaped his entire life.


He says that Boy Scouts taught him about drugs and about the importance of physical fitness so you are ready for anything at all times.  It also taught him to have few wants, and to enjoy nature.


He talks about it SO often!  How much he loved it and what it meant to him.  He has lived up to it to as much as he could with his illness of alcoholism.  He has maintained his same college weight and fitness level, he never stopped going to the gym or let himself go.  He still weighs 185 and can run three miles in 20 minutes at age 39 (forty in November).


Alcohol really is his only vice.  He lives a morally clean life, never curses, works hard, and is totally trustworthy.  He is also thrifty in all of the right ways.  He has few wants and needs and is very spartan.


Don't be embarrassed to have been part of an organization that brought so much to your life during pivotal years.  My husband is never ashamed to tell me or others how much scouting meant to him and still, as a college professor will say with pride that he learned something in boy scouts.  I always thought this was wonderful.


It is good to know that there are still people like you and my husband out there, giving scouting a good name.  The current scoutmaster in our small town is a total hypocritical creep.  He is having an affair with a former friend of mine (former when I found out about this) and is really shameless to live his life this way while shaping the lives of other young men.  I am glad I don't have a son, as I would not let him be in this creep's troop. 


My daughter was in girl scouts and I was her leader and we BOTH had a marvelous experience.  Thanks for bringing back such good memories for me of my families experience with scouting.


Isabela



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david62


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Howdy ((((r)))))

......he says holding out his left hand to shake hands.

As you know, I was not a scout as a child, but was a scout leader while my two step sons went thru cub scouts and later were in boy scouts for 3 years. Those were great times for the most part. I love the scouting program, it offers a wonderful place for boys and young men to learn so many wonderful things and ideas they can use their whole life, and do it having a whole lot of fun!

Thank you for posting this. It encourages me to know that the things you learned in there have stuck with you all this time. I know it will help my ex-wifes boys to know what is right, even when they dont know why they know, or even choose to follow their knowledge all the time.

Anyway, I was just wondering...... r....... can you still tie that bowline knot????? Know lets see.......... the rabbits comes out of his whole...errr...now does he run around the tree to the right or was that to the left, before he goes back down in his hole!

David

-- Edited by david62 at 08:50, 2006-08-16

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nmike


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rtexas,


What it says to me is that we humans respond well to structure, guidance, and some type of morals. If you grow up in an alcoholic home sometimes it is not clear what the morals are or they are contradicted.


Thanks for sharing your aha moment.


In support,


Nancy



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twinmom2


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(((RT)))


Thanks for sharing that.  I really didn't know much about the scouts, but have thought that when the boys get a bit older it might be a good experience for them.  I hope the organization is still as basic but structured.  ( I have mom fears and living in Fl. doesn't help).  Its awesome that you had the scouts during those hard times with your Dad, kind of like a place to go to get away from it and have some normalcy and grounding in your life. 


Have a great day,


Twinmom~



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kitty


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Okay, so I was a Blue Bird, which is even younger than Girl Scouts...  honor & ritual were very strong part of our gatherings.


You're right, everyone needs help, even a smile does magic & being honorable, trustworthy & having integrity are few qualities found in our power hungry world today.  For a spell I thought I was the last honest person alive, always being asked for truth, always (as is historically) the Messenger gets shot down.  So to be an Angel, to be a truth teller, messenger & a champion of that is something I have suffered but am compulsed to do, just one of the 'jobs' &/or Blessings God has bestowed upon me.


The full circle (for me) is to learn what it is to be honest about who & what I am, what my purpose is & to love myself as I would love another, still my inner martyr fights with me over it.


I'm happy & proud you are still a boy scout.  I'm also happy to know there are more honest ppl out there & to be reminded of it.  This country was created in honor & I hope to continue on with it.  Thanks for your post.


Lots of love & LIGHT, -K 



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Light, Love, Peace, Blessings & Healing to Us All. God's Will Be Done. Amen.
drucilla06


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((((rtexas))))


Hmmmm....12 points....12 steps.....what a world!


I have no experience with Boy Scouts either but I am glad to know that the boys are taught all that.It's nice to be reminded of the good in this country with all the negative news I see all the time.


Thanks.       drucilla


 



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