Keeping on in the New Year is an antidote worth considering: While I’m working to stay sober, I’m celebrating albeit with tears. It’s been a mixed emotional bag for me, this holiday season; perhaps for you, too.
A friend chose to forego suggested medical treatment for some organ’s failure. Sobriety had not been a companion long enough to contribute to their physical recovery. My hope is that God intervened in their spiritual recovery.
For me, recovery is connected to God who connected me to AA. Because alcoholics are many and varied, others have recovered through different methods. Whichever method we choose, we agree: our programs work better, when we don’t drink.
Here’s where I tout working the Steps . . .
I had a lot of baggage that, were it not for following the suggestions to keep working the Steps, I might have unpacked useful reasons to go back to drinking. (THINK the Drink Through)
In the book, The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, on page 131, the description of Eddie Rickenbacker’s plane crash resonates – he was saved from death, but still floating on a perilous sea.
Coming into the rooms, through AlAnon, felt like being pulled aboard a lifeboat. The program helped me out of a sea of self-centered self pity, that I didn’t understand was connected to my drinking — and not just the troubles the alcoholic was causing. (A Merry-Go-Round of Denial)
Keeping On
Keeping on can be tough, because a few people I know and love struggle with their drinking, and aren’t interested in climbing aboard . . . yet.
However, I chose to believe that when we are ready many of us grab hold of the life-preserver sobriety is – whether in the rooms of AA or other approaches. Alas, I don’t believe this perfectly. Like sobriety, practicing serenity is a day-by-day discipline and gift. (So You Love a Drunk?)
I am grateful for the folks who came together in the 1930’s, and their legacy of recovery, service, and unity.
Remember, we deal with alcoholism, cunning, baffling and powerful. Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now.(Chapter 5: How It Works)
Thank you for reading – Again: Happy New Year!
How are you faring?
Love in Christ,
Sober and Grateful
P.S. Some people, early on in recovery, aren’t quite sure about the point of reading the traditions. An old-timer said they were told working steps can keep us from suicide; understanding the traditions can keep us from homicide.
P.P.S. This article got my attention . . . Alcoholism a National Epidemic in UK
Last Word: (for now) Some Resources for Recovery
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