Each year and in humble gratitude and God's grace and mercy I post my story.Thank you Lord for each day that has led to decades of uninterrupted daily recovery.
It was a very cold December 2nd morning in 1984 as I "came to" from another drug induced evening.I was 6 months into my 3rd marriage and the more than two and a half decades of active drug addiction/alcoholism was devastating my life and everything and everyone in its path.I lifted my head from the floor of a farmhouse I was staying at in Rhinebeck New York and swore,for the first time,that I was going to stop using or I was going to die like many of my posse already had.My heart cried out to the God of my understanding,my wife and my life was what I was finally choosing and it was the first time I completely surrendered and admitted that I was an addict/alcoholic and needed help.The early years were not easy,but I did whatever it took to remain free of any mind altering mood changing substances until one miraculous day,the desire to use was no longer with me. Join me in celebration ,through God's grace and mercy and my continued daily work to being Free of active addiction/alcoholism for 34 uninterrupted years on this day..The message is Hope and the Promise is freedom working a daily program and knowing there can never be a "first one" for me again.I pray daily for those who may still suffer and are still "caught in the grip" and that they know that with that 1st STEP ,incorporated 100% into your daily life you too can find freedom from active addiction...In humble gratitude and Joy I am blessed to still be here to share in my family and my grand childrens lives .One day at a time, can turn into decades based on my own evidence..I firmly believe,with God(of your own understanding even if that is no god at all)all things are possible! By remaining in a fit spiritual condition,never using again and trusting in a Power greater than yourself,"lost dreams do awaken and new possibilities arise"
One helping another in a loving and caring manner,Thanks for the support through the years on this board,Peace to all WE journey with..
-- Edited by mikef on Sunday 2nd of December 2018 01:12:28 AM
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Aloha Michael and thanks so deeply for you post of awareness and gratitude for clean and sober living. I felt the feeling of early program where and when I would blow off the speakers story of recovery. I did not take it seriously and of course I wasn't alcoholic; just knew better how to drink than anyone else in the room. I was good at drinking and practice a lot so I thought until I got the diagnosis of being "chemically tolerant". Alcohol addiction and compulsion near killed me until my Higher Power quietly said, "Enough" and pulled it away from me. I would not become to practice this program until I learned to sit and listen and learn from the fellowship. I was allowed to haunt members in recovery who said things that made me inquisitive and curious enough to follow them and ask for further input. I was never refused the support.
