
Somedays choosing purpose for the day, and choosing praise in some of the circumstances that are today, can feel like pushing through asphalt.
Choosing Purpose
Perusing the latest GRAPEVINE I found two letters to the editor that revived my sense of purpose — and praise in times that are a little crazy:
At a recent meeting a newcomer shared something that rocked me to my spiritual core. He said he was so excited to be working the steps and couldn’t wait to meet “the new me.”(Irving M. Letters-October 2022)
Whoa . . . I needed this reminder!
Waiting to meet the new me: an expectation that because the Lord’s compassions are new every morning, I have hope. (Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief!)
Working the steps not only takes me places I could not image going when I was drinking —but the steps work on me, or in me — because there really is a power greater than me, myself and silly I.
Choosing Praise
Then I read a letter from a guy who got sober the year I graduated from high school:
The thing Bill did that stuck with me all these years is, “The greatest sin is the sin of ingratitude.” (Leo R. Letters-October 2022)
Recovery is way more than not drinking, especially on days when “the old me” keeps trying to take over my “problems of– in — daily living.”
Not picking up is easier when I think about the last year drinking — and not flying into a dry drunk is easier when I remember the emotional wreckage I inflicted on myself and others with ignoring all the new me had learned.
God, I am grateful there is a new me — even as the old me can try to wrestle control. Thank you I can let go, knowing You have got this.
So today, I am choosing purpose and praise — one day at a time.
Love in Christ,
Sober and Grateful
Some Thoughts on AA’s Promises
