“If you do what we do, and you do what we tell you to do…
… You’re going to earn the right to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the world, with your head held high.”
I could not comprehend what that meant when I was told that by a wise and sober man.
By the Grace of God I followed his direction.
By the Grace of God I never gave up.
By the Grace of God I have been Blessed with a beautiful life.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
Putting down the substances is the easy part of recovery.
Putting in the work to change the person I had become is the hard part.
My perspectives, my attitudes, and my trust in God all need to change.
No one sees those because they’re inside of me.
The biggest change is between me and God. I have to get honest with myself and God.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
I am not responsible for being an alcoholic – it’s a disease.
I am responsible for my own recovery. Once I have been given the opportunity to live clean and sober, I am accountable.
If I don’t ask for help, if I don’t follow direction, or if I decide that life is too hard- that’s all on me. Looking for sympathy gets me nowhere.
I’m grateful that I don’t have to suffer anymore. I’m grateful that I was desperate and willing enough to follow direction.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
If I decided to pick up a drink or a drug today, it would be a careless, self-centered decision.
Perhaps if I had to bear the collective disappointment and pain of all of the people who care about me, I would reconsider. Perhaps I would ask for help.
Then again, maybe not.
That is the sinister nature of my disease – burn down the village to exterminate a rat.
There is always help available to me if I ask. There is always God.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
Every day I try to remember the lowest point in my life – my “bottom”.
Not because it’s a happy memory, but because it is a reminder of how low I can go and how far I have come since then.
The miracles that have happened along the way certainly have helped me to survive, but more importantly they demonstrate the Power of God.
God wants me to seek Him always, in good times and in bad.
Life presents challenges. God Provides solutions.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
The life of recovery from substance abuse isn’t for everyone.
Some try to recover until they feel better physically and then decide that the misery isn’t so bad. They go back for more.
Some try to recover to appease someone else. Eventually that pressure eases and they return to the comfort and misery of substances.
Those of us who are desperate, honest, and willing seem to find long-term recovery.
Recovery isn’t for those who need it as much as it is for those who want it.
God, please help me to want to be sober more than anything else.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
Denial is a great defense mechanism that I can use to justify anything I do.
I can use it to keep others at an arm’s length so that they can’t see the truth about me. I use it to protect my fears.
When I’m suffering, denial keeps me from seeing the truth. Eventually I actually begin to believe my own bullshit.
When I sincerely ask God for His Help, He will show me the truth. He will help me to become honest with myself and others.
Until I seek God’s Help, my insanity continues.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
Being a good friend isn’t always easy.
A good friend tries to understand the things about me that they can’t and just accepts me anyway.
A good friend tries to forgive me when I screw up.
A good friend doesn’t burn bridges.
A good friend knows when I’m off track and tells me what they see.
A good friend doesn’t wait around for a “Thank you”.
A good friend reminds me that I’m not alone.
When I’m at my lowest, a good friend shows up.
Today I will try to be a good friend.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
I appreciate the wisdom of those who came before me.
They learned hard lessons and spared me from having to do the same. They saved me a lot of trouble.
They showed me the right direction so I could make right choices.
There is no express-lane for getting through life. I have had to take my lumps but I’m better off as a result.
My path hasn’t always been smooth but I can’t complain. I’m still on it.
I guess they really knew what they were showing me.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.
I did not try to get clean and sober because I thought it was a good idea.
Not because someone begged me to stop using.
Not because a judge threatened me.
Not because an employer or a spouse threatened me.
I could not stand being inside my own skin, could not look at myself in the mirror, and alcohol stopped removing my discomfort. Alcohol just brought more terror. I was desperate.
I had lost my soul and wanted to die. All because I was a slave to a substance which used to make me feel free.
I don’t want to suffer anymore.
It’s personal. That’s why I can’t make someone else want to be clean and sober.
The desire comes from within me.
God, please help me to be ok today. Thank You. Amen.