Key - Good job on 160 days. For me having a framework to follow guides my decisions the right way, instead of my former crazy way!!
KIR - Congrats on 60 days.
BF - Great job on 30 days.
BrighterDayz - Hi and welcome!
Vandermast - Great to see you recommitting to sobriety.
Grace - Nice to see you here!! Great point about coming to peace with your past. Sharing my past with other alcoholics has helped me come to peace with the mistakes I've made. While I wouldn't want to repeat them, I don't live in regret either. I don't hate myself for them. I accept them as part of my journey.
WWS - I hope you have a decent weekend, even though you have to work.
Carlos - I like your 1/6 passage. In my early days and months of sobriety, that message was foreign to me. I had to keep telling myself sobriety was good. Now when I read those words, I feel like I could have written them.
Saskia and Toots - Good to see you. How's everything going?
I had kind of a weird day. Work is going well. I really enjoy my new role; in many ways the week flew by. This afternoon it ground to a halt when my boss had to let someone go. I had to pack up their belongings while they found out they were getting fired, then carry the box of items in plain sight of everyone in the department.
As I was riding the elevator back after the termination, I thought about drinking. My reaction was NO! Sobriety is the basis of all the good things happening in my life (just like the passage Carlos quoted). Today I wanted to conduct myself humbly and right. I didn't seek to attract attention or enlist others to soothe me. Instead I maintained my composure and professional demeanor and proceeded business as usual.
I realized relatively early into my sobriety that I needed to stay sober, but back at the beginning I would have been ticked off that I couldn't drink away this stress! Today I was grateful that when I thought about drinking, I didn't want to because I've got too much peace, serenity, and joy to lose!
It's a miracle, at least for me, to think of others ahead of myself. Tonight I went to a meeting to share my strength and my experience. The room was packed. My sponsor was there. The guy who gave me my first big book was there. A woman who once shared something that introduced me to the link between codependency and addiction was there, too, as were a couple of newcomers who are struggling. The thing we all had in common for that hour is that we were choosing to be sober and live right. Sharing the room with a bunch of drunks soothed me from the day's stresses and kept me focused on the principles that have deeply enriched my life.
I'm glad to be here, sober, and sharing with all of you, too!