Hello, I’m a grateful drug addict and alcoholic. I’m not going to go into the war stories because we all know what the problem was. I’ll just let you know that my addiction took me places that I never wanted to go. It also took me places that I never knew existed!
The bad thing is that I was the last person in the world to know I had a problem. My wife tried to tell me and so did my mother, family, policemen, judges and toward the end even my dealers! But of course nobody knew what he or she was talking about.
It took me coming into these rooms to find out that I didn’t know as much as I thought. Here people told me that one day I would find a way to live without having to use and would find a way of living to where I would not want to use. I never thought that day would come! It did and I’m grateful!
To me recovery is like the merry-go-round in the park. If I stayed in the center, I could stand up with good balance, feeling safe and protected. But the further off of center I got, the harder and harder it got to hang on. When it got too tough to hang on, I let go and fell off. There was a lot of pain involved! It’s the same with recovery. If I stay in the center, I feel safe. But if I quit going to meetings, calling my sponsor, working the steps, etc., I might fall off and I know there would also be a great deal of pain involved.
If I keep doing the things that kept me sober today, I’m confident that my Higher Power will continue to do for me what I was never able to do for myself. If anyone can remain willing to learn and grow, remarkable things will happen. If you want your life to change, do what we have done and hang on for the ride. This program will also take me places I never knew existed!!!