What’s next? The man who brought that up was not talking about the future, but of right now. That, he said, was how he tried to view his time in life in this program. He said he knew he could do nothing about what was behind him, but only what was next.
Today was “chip day” at our group. The man, who spoke, had just picked up a chip for 34 yrs. The man next to him got one for 42. The couple in front of me and next to me for 27. And so it went all the way down to 24 hrs. Probably the man who received that had achieved something he never dreamed of the day before. And there were all these others, like my friend Joe, who picked up his 31st, who were proof to the man that this program works. All told there was about a couple hundred years of chips registered today. And that’s not counting a couple of hundred more in the room, who weren’t celebrating anniversaries.
What’s next, then? Just what we were doing in the meeting. Not drinking alcohol and staying sober. Living the program and doing the next right thing. No further than that. Just right now. And being happy and comfortable doing it. Being grateful for what we’ve all been given and what has been taken away. Like Colleen, who celebrated 31 yrs. said, when she described how that day came when she no longer desired a drink.
Most of all, of what is next right now, was our support for each other, as we sat there and witnessed this moment. But, the real thing was in our speaking to, shaking hands, and embracing all those “new” members, who had come into the group this day. We were all equal, no matter the time, in our disease of alcoholism. Those of us with time being an example and those who were fresh from that last drink, reminding us of ourselves.
Anyway, just thinking about this.