Many alcoholics will be saying today: "This is a good Christmas for me." They will be looking back over the past Christmases which were not like this one. They will be thanking God for their sobriety and their new found life. They will be thinking about how their lives have changed when they came into A.A. They will be thinking that perhaps God let them live through all the hazards of their drinking careers, when they were perhaps often close to death, in order that they may be used by Him in the great work of A.A. Is this a happy Christmas for me?
This is my first Christmas in 20+ years that I didn't get up with a hangover and go searching for the Vodka and Bloody Mary mix for the eye opener I had planned, just to discover that I drank it all last night, after empyting the wine, champagne and beer!! It was wonderful to wake my son (he's 15 the days of getting up at dawn are over) and open the few gifts we had. For the first time in his existance I didn't max out the credit card to compensate for my drinking. He got a much needed winter coat, sox, boxers and the 3 CDs he asked for. For the first time it's OK that he went to his Dad's and I'm here by myself, because again, for the first time I know I am not alone. I am grateful for another day of sobriety. I am grateful for the AA program. I am grateful for this forum and for all of you that contribute here. I am grateful to John for making MIP possible. Today, I am a grateful recovering alcoholic and I am so blessed to have this disease. Without it, life as I know it today would not be what it is, and it's wonderful. Good, bad, indifferent, it's all such a blessing. The slogans really do work for me; keep it simple, attitude of gratitude, no matter what don't drink, meeting makers make it. If I keep it simple, work the AA program and believe that a power greater than myself can restore me to sanity, I have another 24 hours of sobriety to look forward to..............Thank you all for the ES&H you share.
Love and peace
Doll
-- Edited by Doll at 23:42, 2005-12-25
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* We eventually realize that just as the pains of alcoholism had to come before sobriety, emotional turmoil comes before serenity. *
wow, doll, how wonderful! Congratulations on your first sober Christmas, and the peace you have,, and the renewed relationship with your son. God bless you.
amanda
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do your best and God does the rest, a step at a time
