Friday, Feb. 21, 2020
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
The First Promise
We will know a new freedom and happiness. — Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
A new freedom and happiness for us is an almost unbelievable promise. Before recovery, we had little choice and less freedom. Everything we did had to be set up to meet the demands of our compulsion. Try as hard as we possibly could, we could never prevent the consuming urge of our addiction. A powerful compulsion took over all our waking hours.
Our lives were controlled by our desires. There was a constant need to bow to the demands of our addiction. It made all our decisions for us. There was no freedom and only a small bit of happiness at the very best. We always had to “pay the piper,” and we knew it. We were slaves, like it or not. When freedom came with abstinence, so came joy, gratitude, and love for others and ourselves.
I once believed that I could control my addiction. When I found it wasn’t possible, I felt deep depression, guilt, shame, and remorse. I felt I no longer had freedom. Recovery finally gave me a choice. Promises do come true.
Hazelden Foundation
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