How do we stay sober in the face of sudden tragedy? I was thinking about this today, because a friend of mine called me yesterday with just that kind of news.
The reason I thought of this is that I have known a few people, with long sobriety, who didn’t stay sober, when such an event took place in their lives. Yet, I have known so many others, who have.
I know what that man did yesterday, calling, right after he got the news, and talking it through, even though I knew he had to be in shock. We’re really not like other people. That came through loud and clear to me yesterday. Yet he did what I thought was the right thing. He shared his shock and grief.
I’ve known my share of this kind of thing. But always there were others in this program, who stepped up and intervened on my behalf. They came in in a timely manner and represented my higher power to me, when it might have been otherwise. The details are not important, only to me. But it showed me over and over how this program works to help me stay sober.
How valuable the example of others has been to me throughout my time in this program I can only express by saying how grateful I am for it. Both the good and the “bad”. Throughout these times I have been able to learn what it is that keeps me sober. I have been shown by so many what it is that I need to do to stay on this path.
Anyway, I couldn’t help but think about this today.