One of the subjects today was gratitude. It hit home with most of the members, who took time to share about their sobriety in here. I know it came to me very well.
It’s very obvious to this alcoholic how well the idea of gratitude is for most of us. Almost everyone talked about their being able to succeed in getting sober and staying sober. I know from my own experience how early on that gratitude is difficult to take into our thoughts.
And I know that morning, and at noon meetings, and near bed time at night, my giving thanks for my being able to get sober and stay sober is very important to me. How my being able to go on one day at a time not drinking alcohol is what has helped to turn my life totally around.
The AA program, the BB and the 12&12, my old sponsor and all those old timers in here, the daily meetings, the Steps and Traditions, but most of all the spiritual way of life and my Higher Power is what I have been able to grasp onto. I know I have, not only, learned how valuable this way of life has become, but how thankful I am for all it has given to me.
This way of life has changed everything. I know that I was educated very well, yet it is not what is necessary for me. When I came in here I had to step back and begin to learn a new way of life and thinking. The whole program in here changed me. And it made my life so much better and safe that I am extremely grateful.
Yet the memory of my surrendering and getting free of the alcohol has made me so extremely happy that I cannot forget what my Higher Power and this program have done for me. In fact my own daily thoughts, like so many others in here, is about the moment I was able to be freed of the grip alcohol had on me. Each and everyday that thought comes back and makes me very grateful. So much so that I, like the program desires, feel the need to pass this way of life off to the new people, who want to also achieve their sobriety like, I and so many others have done.
So, I had to stop and put my thoughts down, not just at the meeting, but right now. Thanks to my Higher Power, the program, my old sponsor, and all those who have helped me to stop drinking, and changed my whole life.