"If you don't have hope then death is a formality."
Before recovery, my life was spiraling out of control and each area just got worse and worse. I had lost my job; my relationships had all but ended, and I had lost hope of my future ever getting better. In some of the darker hours, death didn't seem so bad...For a while, the only glimmer of hope I had came from the first few drinks I took. This instant euphoria didn't last, however, and soon I was once again mired in the pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization of my alcoholic bottom. It wasn't until I finally surrendered that real hope began to return. I first saw this hope on the faces of people in meetings, and I heard it in their stories and witnessed it in the miracles taking place in their lives. Soon I believed there was a miracle waiting for me, too, and after a while I found that hope had returned, and I had begun to live again. Today I have a healthy fear of death again, and I try to pack as much into the stream of life as I can.
