NEOMARXIST

I know that when I'm feeling in balance, and my mind and body are perfectly harmonious, then I have a lot of gratitude.

Gratitude and good healthy recovery go hand in hand. Like if I'm not feeling gratitude then I ain't working my recovery how I know I need to. When I'm feeling gratitude then I know that I'm practicing my recovery how I know I should be.

I think getting gratitude back up is key to maintaining good, solid recovery.

Also when you're feeling grateful then thoughts of drinking could not be further from your mind. When the gratitude starts to slip and the mind gets closed-in and the 'tunnel vision' thinking and "I, Self, me" thinking starts rearing it's head then that's where the drinking thoughts can start to come to the forefront.

Gratitude; It's something I never really thought about before my recovery. It is definately true that people warm to somebody who is grateful. I know that when I'm feeling gratitude then I'm portraying myself as I like to portray myself.

It's funny because gratitude was something that I remember really discovering and really working in my early recovery. I hadn't really had to think about it for a long time.

I have restored my gratitude. Incidentally my gratitude for being a recovering alcoholic never really wavers. I am genuinely grateful for having this chance at recovery and everything that it has given my life's direction. But it's easy to stop appreciating the stuff that you would have gladly traded back in the bad, dark days. Everyday stuff that most people take for granted.

I can usually restore my gratitude by thinking back to how I was just before I got sober. I am glad that I went mentally so low, as it's easy to regain my gratitude about seemingly trivial things; Like getting out of bed.

Peace

LaFemme

Great post Neo! I was just talking with someone earlier how awesome it is to be sober and the importance of staying positive. I feel like we have all been given this amazing second chance at life:-)

dreanick

Neo,
I just wanted to say thank you for your reminder about gratitude. I’m now 12 days sober. I received some bad news today and was teetering on the edge for a few minutes there but when I read your post it reminded how I felt a few days ago, being so grateful for the things I do still have. Instead of drinking, I went to a meeting. Thanks for helping keep day 12 intact. I am definitely grateful to you.

recycle

Thanks Neo, you speak the truth. I am very grateful for this chance at life. Hopefully keeping gratitude in my daily thoughts will provide some armor when the day comes that I am not feeling so strong.

TexasNative

Thanks Neo, great post as always.

Rusty Zipper

neo

i was told way early on,

a gratful drunk,

will never drink again!

hey, i'm still sober

damm grateful for that!

gcc572

Thanks for that Neo.

I come on here before I head of to work to try and get my day off to the right start. Now I'm leaving the house knowing I can get through another day, not if I can.

Almath

Great post Neo! Your positive attitude is infectious :-)

Hope all is going well for you since?


Big hugs,

Almath

HIgby442

Yeah I hear ya about gratitude. Before I got sober I dont think I ever had gratitude; or, if I did it was very seldom that it showed. I also think back to right before I got sober, or right after when I was really at my bottom. Now I find gratutide in a lot of things every day. A while ago I posted on being open to a looking for things that were reminders of what to be grateful for. Your post made me remember something this weekend I wanted to share.

I have been away from home on the East Coast for the past 14 weeks and before i went I was scared. I was new in my sobriety, would be under lots of pressures and around a lot of old haunts. It was my biggest test. This weekend, I made the 16 hour drive back home and was really thinking about how grateful and lucky I was to have made it through the experience. And, it turned out to not be a tough experience-it was awesome.

At a stop along the way, I came across a saying that was on a plaque that I think talks directly to gratitude, and for me personally this really hit big time and it reads like this:

"This is the beginning of a new day. I was given this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is important because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, not loss; good, not evil; success, not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it".

Thanks for sharing your thoughts-I can totally relate and they helped me today.

All the best

loveon2legs

Thanks for the wonderful post!!!