This is the season for gift giving. Christmas Eve. And I know that there are a lot of people buying, wrapping, and getting ready to give gifts to others. It’s about joy and happiness.
That made me think. All the way back to that January day so many years ago, when I was given a gift. It was the gift of sobriety. Something I desperately wanted. I asked God, my Higher Power, for it and it was given to me.
I have never forgotten this gift. Nor the giver. Nor those, who joined in and gave me so much help. It was the gift of joy and happiness. A new freedom from bondage. The bondage of alcohol. But more. I was given a way of life that led to a restoration of sanity. Something I needed badly. The gift of a spiritual awakening. Freedom from the thought of a drink.
And every day that I get up sober I am reminded of this need to say thanks for all these gifts I have been given. Every day is almost a match for this day, Christmas Eve. Except back then, when it happened, I was the recipient of this gift.
Anyway, as this day and evening went on, it was intense enough to make me stop and think about gifts. The giving and receiving. The need for gratitude. I have received not only sobriety, but the basis for that sobriety. A spiritual way of life. The solution, not just to my alcoholism, but my life.
I’m also reminded that it doesn’t matter what day it is, as long as it is another day to remain sober. I can never afford to forget that. It’s all about sobriety.