Once more I got a great reminder. To stay sober a day at a time. Or, as one man said, this is the only day I can get drunk…if I want to.
I had to admire my friend who brought the subject of staying sober a day at a time. The 5th Tradition. The primary purpose of the group is to carry the AA message to the alcoholic, who still suffers. That could be me. It doesn’t have to be the new man or woman or the one coming back.
Every time I hear a day at a time, I think of the NYC bar with the sign over the bar, stating for all to read: Free drinks tomorrow. Of course, when someone would come in the next day and ask for a free drink they were told that it was today and the free drinks were for the next day. No one ever got a free drink, because when tomorrow came it was always today.
A great reminder that no matter what plans I might make the outcome, the results were out there, like the free drinks. No telling what will happen. We have to wait a day at a time. Or, as one person once said, you can’t do tomorrow’s dirty dishes today. Learning patience and humility.
What a day at a time tells me is that I have to live in the present. Right now. Not always an easy task for someone with a mind like mine. One that tends to drift off at every new thought. Unless I make myself aware and practice discipline. The discipline to stay in the now and be conscious of my Higher Power and the principles of this program, which I’m supposed to practice daily. The maintenance of my spiritual condition on which my sobriety is based.
At the end of the meeting, when we stood for the Lord’s Prayer, it was a reminder to stay in the now. To pay attention to the words, what I was saying. What we all were saying. I really have to strive to do this, when I start my day with prayer and meditation. Still not an easy job for me. But like my old sponsor told me, don’t quit. Never give up. I stumble, but do keep on going. I want to stay sober. Today.