Who wouldn’t be grateful for the freedom from the bondage of alcohol? I know that I am. To be free from the mental obsession of having to think about a drink everyday of my life. To be free from the compulsion and the craving that came with my alcoholism. To be free from that nightmare my life had become. Yes, I am grateful.
That’s why I try to remember each day about the solution. The 2nd Step. Coming to believe in a power greater than myself, which could restore me to sanity. That’s why, the Doctor’s Opinion and the first four chapters in the BB are so important to me. They spell out what was wrong with me and how I could get out of the hell I was in.
It’s funny, as I look back at it, that the answer was always right there under my nose. But booze and my insanity wouldn’t let me look at it. It was just around the corner everyday. Yet I kept missing it. A higher power; the God of my understanding. My powerlessness and Someone, who could and would do for me what I could not do for myself.
All that was required on my part was to surrender and accept. I only had to get willing and honest enough to admit what was wrong with me and the solution was right there in front of me. I had to face the music, as they say, and stop dodging the answer, which was always present in my life.
Then I had to come to realize that recovery from this disease is not a one time event. It is a full time process each and everyday. The tools, the Steps, are there for me to use everyday, if I am serious and want to stay sober and never drink again. Never to go back to that hell on earth that was my life soaked in alcohol.
And that’s where the gratitude comes in. If I am grateful I will act in gratitude for all the gifts which have been given to me. I will put this program into action each day and rely on my higher power for the strength and ability to do that. Like someone said today, it’s reliance not defiance that will keep me on track.
So, each day I need to go back to the beginning of the solution, the 2nd Step, and remind myself to be grateful that I have been given a second chance at life. A sober life.