IWLSAST

Hope, yes, a lot to be grateful for upon your return:
Let me guess...
1. fresh breath, well, at least not stankin booze breath
2. lungs not crippled with smoke
3. functioning with clarity while driving home
4. no need for a night cap
5. no munchies
6. buzz free sleep
7. no headache, stomach ache, overall soreness waking up
8a. woke up with no thoughts of "what happened?"
8b. woke up and remembered details about what you did last night
9. woke up with the potential gift of another day of freedom to string together
10. the ability, perhaps the desire to accomplish and/or enjoy today out from underneath the cocoon of regret and dread

Thanks for your post!

Hope4Life

What a FANTASTIC list! Thanks!

I got up on sunday and went to my favorite AA meeting in the forest! It was the perfect temperature, in a beautiful setting with about 45 other folks. The only thing that was strange was the sound of canon's and gunfire from the Civil War reenactment nearby!

I am so glad to be free of my addictions. As you said, driving home w/o any impairment, having clear memories of the artist's, be able to sleep w/o spinning in a drunken stupor and having the energy and drive to live a normal life the following day are all gift's that my sobriety give's me!

Elseware

Hope4life, isn't it interesting how smelly a person is when they've been drinking? I can smell it a mile away now. And not with nostalgia. I smelled someone at my yoga class the other day and I felt very sorry for her. Must have taken a good belt and then went off to work on their balance?

gleefan

Or how they smell in the morning? I get lots of early morning whiffs of parents during my kids' hockey season.

zerothehero

the music festival was a really great show
most of the bands i didn't even know
but i just couldn't hang
with the late night gang
i was the only one there who could just say no

zerothehero

there was a band the other night that i wanted to see
but i was content in my trailer to read and just be
i'm feeling less restless
not so much in distress
there's this strange sense of comfort in just being me

zerothehero

i've spent most of my life crawling out of my skin
my mother would sob if she'd known where i'd been
she thought i'd been blessed
i would never have guessed
she was right all along because i'm right again

zerothehero

five months to the day that i took my last drink
when i made the choice to step away from the brink
of death or disaster
i just had to master
this freestyle that helps me to swim and not sink

SnoozyQ

Thanks dear Zero , i really enjoyed those before i get my butt outa bed this morn xxx

Elseware

Zero, I'm speechless (and rhyme-less) you sound so good. The poems here have helped me get through some dark times. I am so happy for you, sweet gentle man.

Gilmer

It's always a joy to come here and read, even (and especially) when the poems are sharp and piercing.

zerothehero

it's good to have some positivity to share
with those who so sweetly and anonymously care
sometimes i'm a drain
when i'm spewing my pain
and laying the bruises on my aching heart bare

zerothehero

a few days from work seems to help me feel whole
to step away from that job that like liquor years stole
but tomorrow i go back
so i'll strive to stay on track
to maintain my balance seems a necessary goal

zerothehero

there can be no darkness where there is not also light
all that seems wrong may turn out to be right
the years were not lost
but rather the cost
for resurrecting the day from the blindness of night

Gilmer

Wow, that was really, really good!

Have you heard anything about the lateral move
That would help your work life to be more in the groove?

Elseware

I can't keep it up anymore
I need to let my secret life go
It's become a moldering sore
If I could, I'd cut it away
Cut it down to find a core
Of sweetness.
And there I'd stay, come what may.

Gilmer

Total honesty was the toughest thing for me
It usually ended in a truckload of crap
But now I don't do the things that I have to hide
And I consider that a sheer gift, not my own will.
(That and good medication).
I wish you courage, Else.
We all love you.

zerothehero

little by little the truth becomes known
that i gave up drinking and i'm not alone
i hope for acceptance
as i make a new alliance
with sobriety and the skills i continue to hone

zerothehero

Thanks for asking. Though the position is not approved, I begin training today! Word has it we're waiting on the formality, but they are confident enough about it to start teaching me the job! Wish me luck!

Elseware

Zero: LUCK, LUCK, AND MORE LUCK!!