WWS - Congrats on 3 months sober! I don't want to go back, either.
Saskia - Beautiful advice on how you live in the moment.
Toots - Congrats on 1000 sober days! You have been such a rich source of inspiration and support for me. The "we" indeed!
Carlos - I couldn't agree with you more. I didn't know I needed AA until I went. And what started as a need turned into a want! It's provided me SO MUCH in the past 21 months. The lessons I've learned about gratitude, humility, and acceptance are allowing me to grow towards my potential instead of spinning in circles.
I am experiencing success in my career that I always wanted but never achieved. Since changing careers a year ago, I've been promoted twice, the second time to a highly coveted role. I just found out yesterday that I have been given the opportunity to take a compliance exam that will allow me to register as a supervisor. This will open up more opportunities for advancement.
The success I've found is the result of more than simply not drinking. (I am grateful that I hadn't reached a point in active addiction where I was stripped of responsibility - yet). The success I'm experiencing is the result of changing the toxic behavior and patterns underlying my drinking. The stinking thinking held me back for years, and I didn't even realize it.
Ironically, for me, success puts me in as much danger as life's lows! When I succeed in areas that one eluded me, I run the risk of feeling like I'm standing on top of the world, with all the answers.
I've learned in AA that success comes and goes. This too will pass. Recovery will help me keep living well no matter what circumstances I find myself in.
Im not a hardliner either. I go to one meeting a week, especially when my kids' schedules are busy. Most people in my life know that I don't drink, but aren't interested in the details of why or how. I don't discuss my sobriety a whole lot - though I would with anyone who asked. That's why I want AA and SR in my life. It gives me a place to share what I'm going through.
A year ago this weekend, on a mild December day in NYC, I met my sober friend Carlos f2f for the first time. He and I made our way through throngs of drunk Santas to 3 different AA meetings. Sharing our experience, strength, and hope with all the different people we met at those meetings was super cool.
For me, being able to share my recovery with people who understand, to love them, and to allow them to love me, has taught me to love myself too -- and led to success and joy and peace that always eluded me.