Thinking about hope again, which has had such and impact on my life, I was reminded by a friend of mine of a statement by an old timer back years ago. He said that faith without hope was like honey in a sieve.<\/p>\n
That brought to mind a lot of things from the past. One of those was the list I was given by a very spiritual man. I know I’ve gone there before, but the influence it has had on my sobriety is so important to me.<\/p>\n
This man was the one who helped me think about these four words: perseverance, hope, faith, and love. He told me that first comes perseverance. Grabbing hold of these concepts and never ever letting go.<\/p>\n
First comes hope. And that’s exactly what led me into getting sober. The words the young man, who drank with me, gave me, which told me that there was a place where people met and stayed sober. He told me he would take me there. That stopped me from committing suicide because I couldn’t stop drinking alcohol. It led me to prayer and surrender.<\/p>\n
I hung on to that hope, like I later was told I should. In turn that led to faith, because my hope was fulfilled. And in turn I not only continued to hope, I also began to maintain faith in a Power greater than myself, as well as the program.<\/p>\n
And finally my continuance in persevering in hope and faith led me, through these Steps in here, to love: Step Twelve. Compassion. Freely carrying the AA message to the alcoholic who still suffers and wants to get sober, as well as those in here, who need help. All this a day at a time.<\/p>\n
Anyway I was reminded of the importance of being able to never let go of hope, faith, and love. To continue to do what I learned in here from my old sponsor and all those old timers and those today, who continue to help me. I can well see at times what can happen when one begins to lose hope. Faith and compassion start to slide away. Negative emotions begin to take over. Anxiety, worry, fear, anger, and resentments come on, and often drinking alcohol again. Seen it.<\/p>\n
Today, after listening again to my friend about faith without hope being like honey in a sieve, I went back to what I was told about never ever letting go of the gift of hope, faith, and caring about others. I need to persevere. To continue to hang in and never quit. And that means for me to continue to come to meetings and listen and learn. To give and share with others in this program. To always be grateful for all I have been given. And to stay sober a day at a time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thinking about hope again, which has had such and impact on my life, I was reminded by a friend of mine of a statement by an old timer back years ago. He said that faith without hope was like honey in a sieve. That brought to mind a lot of things from the past. One … <\/p>\n