Step by Step
Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024
“A lot of lost dreams, empty futures and crazy things of the past went through my mind. One night, I was struck with the memory of a line Alan Ladd used in ‘Shane,’ a movie that I’d worked on. He told a villain, ‘The trouble is, old man, you’ve lived too long.’ How that line echoed through my mind! I knew why I identified. It was MY line, the story of MY life. I’d lived too long and become a loser, dependent on booze. Well, at least I could drink myself to death. Real soon. Then everyone would be sorry for me.” — Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “They Stopped in Time,” Ch 3 (“Those Golden Years”), p 333.
Today, no asking if I have lived too long or too briefly and if I am predestined to “drink myself to death,” exiting the world with everyone feeling “sorry” for me. Is this the legacy I want for my life? If I want and expect better, and whether I am sober or drinking today, recovery has given me the tools to build the legacy that will remain after I am gone. And the Program promises better than being remembered as the “poor soul” who wasted a lifetime and died an alcoholic’s death. In recovery, I can embark on my legacy to be someone who rose from the alcoholic gutter and re-crafted himself as a person who sobered up and sought to help the person who became helpless and hopeless. But I cannot think in terms of my final legacy. It is built 24 Hours at a time. Today, I focus on what my legacy is now. And our common journey continues. Step by step. — Chris M., 2024
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