How lucky we are in recovery that we can have such a fantastic tool as a gratitude list. I truly believe that a grateful heart can't get drunk. I read that somewhere and it really struck a chord with me.
I've been in pain for just over a week now with a neck condition that has limited what I can and can't do quite severely. So, this morning I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and write out a gratitude list.
It has made me realize that in every single moment of every single day there is always something to be grateful for. Here's my gratitude list:-
* I am sober and coming up to two years of continuous sobriety
* I am in love with a very wonderful man who loves and cares for me
* I have a beautiful, warm home
* I have been given a chance to study a topic that is very dear to me
* By and large, I and those I love are in good health
* I have a wonderful circle of friends who all love and care for me
* I have a Higher Power who is always with me
* I have mostly got my self-respect back
* I can now be sober when somebody turns to me for help
* I usually have a great peace and tranquility in my life that was never there when I was drinking
* I am so lucky to have discovered the wonderful fellowship of AA and also MIP
Have a great and grateful day everybody.
Take care,
Carol
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss
Thanks quetzal. I'm grateful for your list. Almost all of it could be mine. Its funny how I tried to shake off all that though. What I had to do this morning as I read your list was to say the serenity prayer as I read each line.. Our attitude is a choice and it seems I wanted to choose to deny the wonderful things in my life too.
I had a bit of a restless night. It droppped to around zero as if I'm the only one that had cold toes last night. I looked at your beautiful warm home post and tried to fight it with self pity and jealousy.
Well this is the nicest home I've ever had and its the warmest too. Why would I want to feel sorry for myself. No matter, I know I'm an alcoholic and its a familiar but destructive thought pattern that I don't want.... and its BS.
What did I do? A gratitude list is an important tool against this type of thinking. Here I am reading a list and its having the opposite effect.??? Well , I'm starting off with the first line of the Serenity prayer and darn it I will just have to accept the things I cannot change and today whether I like it or not.... I have a nice warm home :)
God grant me the serenity to accept that things aren't bad at all. God Grant me the serenity to accept my house is the nicest i've ever had. God grant me the serenity to accept that my house is the most evenly heated home I've ever had.
As you can see, I have a ways to go before I'm happy joyous and free today but
Thanks for the great start Quetzal
Now I think I'll try some external rather than spiritual comfort.
* Good health today, aside from a nasty bug that will GO AWAY * My sobriety, and how the people in AA have changed my life forever * my marriage is working out, just for today (LOL) * A warm home with good heat * A relationship with then awesome God of all creation * An education and a future * Talents that God has given me, unlike anyone else's * The language of the Heart in my life, that I may understand and be understood by other alcoholics anywhere in the world!! * The AWESOME Big Book
Thanks Carol. Being grateful makes me feel better any time I need a pick-me-up!!
Joni
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~~"It's hard to be hateful when you're grateful."~~
Thanks for the gratitude list Carol... Its awesome you can still feel grateful when I know youre hurting soo bad! Keep up the good work and take it easy!!!!! Lani
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"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. "
