Sober since April 6, 2006

That's
days

Thursday, March 15, 2007

gratitude

Today, I'm especially grateful for ...

  • being sober ... coming up on a year
  • having a sponsor that I can really talk to
  • the awesome people in my life
  • the kind words of encouragement left behind here
  • my family ... they love me
  • being able to "be there" when someone I care about experienced a death in his family
  • completing the process of acquiring a loan to buy a car. I would have never been able to do anything this complicated back when I was drinking. If it involved anything more complicated than unscrewing a bottle cap, I was pretty much screwed. (Or unscrewed?)
  • knowing that I don't need to "live to impress" people
  • I don't need to "change" myself to make people happy
  • I don't need anyone else to change to make me happy
  • when I turn my will and my life over to God, I cease fighting anything and anyone ... that makes me happy
  • God, because He has a plan for my life, and He included Himself in it

8 comments:

An Irish Friend of Bill said...

Cool.
Yeh. 'Impressing people' is for WIMPS. FAR better just to be your own person.
A nice old timer used to say 'You impress me when you STOP trying to impress me'.
Which I have used myself with Sponsees/ newcomers many times..

Ah. The first AA anniversary! It's a NICE one! I REALLY liked mine. It gave me confidence that I was on the right path. Not that I NEEDED it because I had some FABULOUS !! old timers in my midst who I was learning as MUCH as I possibly could from. But I was SO riddled with doubt about whether I would 'get it', my own failings, and the choices I had made as to how I was approaching the AA programme, that I felt 'endorsed' by the act of accomplishing one year of sobriety.
The longer I am sober, the MORE grateful I am for the 'orientation' of the AA recovery I was shown by those old timers. From what I have seen, it appears to age VERY well.
Anyway. I digress. Despite the fact that i do NOT endorse 'external validation', I just wanted to say that i think you've done a VERY good years work in AA. Well done. If you knew what a fusspot I am about these things !! (rightly or wrongly) you would think that was pretty cool!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Pammie said...

That was a beautiful gratitude list. I'm very glad I came by your blog and read it.

Shadow said...

...coming up for a year... wow, well done! that's something wonderful!

Recovery Road London said...

Be yourself, cos in the end what's left is you. Not others.

Redhead Gal said...

great list!

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the car, TKD- hope you get that loan sorted out. A year! Well done, you are doing great and I always enjoy reading what you have to say. Best wishes to you!

ArahMan7 said...

I'm happy for you, my friend. Great lists ~ I'm not trying to impress anybody here.

Enjoy your weekend.

Unknown said...

Salvation is always the ending of the minds fascinated identification with the dead and unchanging image of what it was. It is the complete reversal of the
"natural" order of things a METANOIA - the Greek word for repentance, meaning precisely a turning around of the mind, so that it no longer faces into the past, the land of the shadow of death, but into the Eternal Present.
So long as the mind is captivated by memory, and really feels itself to be that past image which is "I" it can do nothing to save itself; it's sacrifices are of no avail, and it's Law gives no life.
After years of therapy, I had a metamorphosis - I asked Jesus to have mercy on me & forgive me my sins. He delivered me from my inequities. Praise the Lord!!