Daily Troubles and My Choices
Today’s troubles are bizarre and wild. Yet, they aren’t unfamiliar. Today’s troubles are like a flashback to 1968.
Back then, in 1968, the day’s troubles engulfed me, giving me ample excuses to drink and experiment with drugs. In that year, the news was overflowing with reports of
- Race riots because of Dr. King’s assassination,
- The war in Vietnam,
- A Presidential election, and
- Outstanding progress in space.
Back then, I was in counseling, and barely coming to understand how other people’s alcoholism affected me; not my own, though. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt!
I had no program; no faith.
Fast Forward
Today’s troubles come with equally intense power – maybe more because of the isolation that comes with COVID-19 . These troubles have changed life, and closed many traditional avenues for recovery, throwing many of us out of meetings. Economic and social upheavals are uncommonly intense. But, today I have a program, and I have faith in a power greater that I am.
Never has the Serenity Prayer been a better lifeline for me than today!
Counseling showed me I couldn’t use another person’s drinking to excuse my bad choices. Subsequently, AA taught me nobody drives looking in the rear-view mirror. So,
I can’t live today wallowing in the past.
The program gave me an understanding, belief, and trust – i.e. faith—in three things:
- I can’t make anything better by picking up.
- Trying on old emotional habits to see how they look in new circumstances is deadly.
- Working this gift of faith has been a daily drill — sometimes an hourly drill.
Dear reader, if you are new to recovery; if you are feeling wobbly working the steps; if the present reality is choking you, or if you are just looking for fellowship, I am glad you have read this far!
A CHANGED OUTLOOK
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
When I was drinking, my attitude was totally selfish, totally self-centered; my pleasure and my comfort came first. Now that I am sober, self-seeking has started to slip away. My whole attitude toward life and other people is changing. For me, the first “A” in our name stands for attitude. My attitude is changed by the second “A” in our name, which stands for action. By working the Steps, attending meetings, and carrying the message, I can be restored to sanity. Action is the magic word! With a positive, helpful attitude and regular A.A. action, I can stay sober and help others to achieve sobriety. My attitude now is that I am willing to go to any length to stay sober!
From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Keep on keeping on . . . one rough day – hour or minute, for that matter, is better than the best day time you ever had drinking.
For all our choices today, today’s troubles will only have as much power to derail our recovery as we give them. Here’s where I pray my favorite prayer:
God, I believe! Help Thou My Unbelief! (Mark 9:25-29)
Love in Christ,
Sober and Grateful
PS: heres a link to The Original Serenity Prayer
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020