Step by Step
Friday, March 15, 2024
Today, attitude may be the second force in sobriety and recovery — second only to abstinence. But attitude cannot begin and end with taking on mere gratitude. If I am uncertain, even afraid, of life without alcohol, it doesn’t parallel the certainty of life WITH alcohol. If a Fourth Step is a painful revelation, the pain pales to what we endure by continuing to drink. If sobriety is “boring,” we need only ask ourselves if we really want the drama and trauma of the county jail drunk tank, a court sentence, fines and fees, community service, the threat of being fired or the substantial risk of having family and friends walk away. And if sobriety is “lonely,” we need only to go to a meeting or call a sponsor or someone in recovery instead of falling back into the desolation of drinking. If we can say the growing pains of sobriety come nowhere near the pains of drinking, if we can be honest and confront the character defects we find in our Fourth, if we can commit to recovery more than abstinence and if we nurture the 12th-Step mandate to carry the message, we can say we have an attitude that has grown into a thirst for recovery. Today, I choose an attitude of recovery and, with hope, every day that follows. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024
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