In early sobriety, I sometimes had trouble identifying with other peoples alcoholism, and often wondered whether I belonged. After all, I had never been to prison for manslaughter while driving drunk. I never robbed a liquor store in a blackout, or woke up in a different state or country not know how I had gotten there. There were countless other things that had never happened to me either. As I discussed this with my sponsor, he said I hadnt experienced these things yet.
As I started working the Steps and writing inventories, I began to see what he meant. First of all, I actually had crashed a car while drunk, and I had been arrested for it when I was seventeen. Thankfully, I hit an empty parked car, and no one in my vehicle was injured. Other inventories revealed plenty of times I blacked out and came to in strange circumstances. As I looked deeper, I identified more with the stories I heard, and I felt the gravity of the word yet.
Today, I know my stories could have ended very differently if I had continued drinking, and any of the outcomes I heard others share could easily have been my fate as well. Moreover, I also know that any of these terrifying endings could be in my future as well they are only one drink away. Today, when I see or hear these stories, I say a quiet prayer of gratitude, for I know that but by the grace of God, there go I
