The original reason I went to AA meetings and wanted to be sober is for my son. It didn't take long that I had to be and stay sober for myself. Staying both emotionally and physically sober I can be a great dad, husband-to-be, son, brother, friend, sponsor, etc...
I was lucky to get sober when my son was only 5 months old. But even if he was older, I have to remember the 9th Step Promises.
"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves."
I know now that my past mistakes can be looked at as a learning experience, hence why I don't regret the past. I don't shut the door on it because remembering the actions I did when drinking helps me not repeat mistakes again, especially to my family.
My experience can benefit others, (including my family).
I am losing interest in my own selfishness and gaining interest in my fellows, (my family included as a part of "my fellows".)
I do my best to do the best job as a father I can possibly do. I concern myself with today.
I have a constant reminder of my two year old handsome son to show me I am blessed, and I am grateful.
I maintain my recovery today, so I am emotionally, spiritually, and physically fit to be able to be of maximum service to others in and outside of the rooms of AA.
The past was the past. It is the present, today I am concerned with. Life and the gift of having a family is awesome, live today!
Tom