Answering How I Live Without Drinking
“I live” may not sound like a good description, but it is a wonderful fact. Someone, who is still drinking, asked me how I lived without alcohol. I answered, I live.
When I drank, I wasn’t living; I existed — so I could drink.
Living sober, my life today in recovery is happy, joyful and free – granted, not from problems. But, today I am free from the destructive cycle of resentment and bitterness, a cycle that never solved problems and created others.
Poor me…poor me became I’m gonna pour me another drink and described the pity parties I liked to throw for myself.
Living without my drinking buddy – righteous indignation – has meant I can stop trying to prove I was the injured party.
Do you know how many hours just that change can add to a day?
When I stopped
- rehearsing all the wrongs I endured, and
- writing out payback scenes in my brain, I had time on my hands – time to LIVE my life, and let others live theirs.
Yes, I do look back, but now with the hope of either making amends or living the amends to people to whom I cannot go.
Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future. (A.A. wisdom)
When I now look to either side of me, it’s not to take another person’s inventory – but to learn from their example and offer the help that was so graciously offered to me.
We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. ~C.G. Jung
The funny thing, when I do that, I can see more clearly all the way around!
I hope you are doing well this day in your recovery dear reader – Here’s a program proverb that adjusts my vision. Hope it helps you!
Just for today, I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life problems at once. I can do something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a LIFETIME.
Love in Christ,
Sober and Grateful
PS: You might like — Change means exchanging weapons for tools.
*Meme from Dave Ramsey
