Db1105

Yes.

alphaomega

Such interesting points of view.

My thoughts are this : if alcoholism is, in fact, a disease, and sobriety is the only cure, being able to maintain said sobriety is not possible for many with our affliction. Therefore, the only escape then from the disease is to perish from it.

If I had terminal cancer, and then was somehow cured of it, I would not question the presence of a miracle.

And from what I understand, alcoholism is either fatal. Or it's not.

Why some are able to maintain sobriety and others not, if not divine intervention, must reflect on personal will power. And in that case, why then, can't our willpower also cure cancer ?

I realize I'm getting a little existentialistic. But ya feel me ?

ZeldaFan

My life prior to September of this year consisted of work, coming home and drinking myself sick, usually blacking out, going to work hungover and dealing with a stomach torn to pieces with almost nobody left in my life. Now that all of that is behind me, I would say my sobriety is absolutely a miracle.

As to why some people don't receive this miracle... if we knew then it wouldn't be a miracle for those of us who receive it.

Tamerua

Alphaimega, I don't liken it to cancer. If anything, it is more like a mood disorder, and I say that as the mother of a kid with a mood disorder.

We do things we don't want to when we have alcohol present, our whole personalities can change, etc. if a mood disorder is managed, either with therapy or medication or both, then a lot of the problems go away. Same with alcoholism. Recovery is the medicine, whatever recovery program works for each person.

That's just my opinion of course.

aasharon90

My sobriety is a gift and blessing from
my HP - Higher Power as I understand Him.

With a program of recovery learned
back in 1990 using the tools and
knowledge of my addiction to alcohol,
I incorperate this program of steps
and principles to build a strong foundation
to live upon each day Im sober.

Faith without works or action is dead.
Which means, I couldn't and can't
just live on Faith alone. I need to
walk the walk of recovery and not
just talk the talk. Putting what Ive
learned into action in all areas of
my life has kept me sober for 23 yrs.
of many one days at a time.

As always, this is how it works for
me as I share my own ESH -experiences
strengths and works of what my life
was and is like before, during and after
alcohol.

Fandy

great positive thread! thank you for asking.
i believe my sobriety is a result of common sense taking over a selfish addiction. i took a nightly glass of wine and turned it into 10.
thankfully my best thinking got me to sobriety. i decided after finding this website that i had enough of making myself sick.
i do think that i might have had a little help from Big G guiding me here.

KateL

I do believe in miracles. However, my sobriety took a lot of hard work, so no.

ImperfectlyMe

If there was a miracle it was Jesus' reversal of turning all my wine into water

Threshold

I don't feel like my sobriety is a miracle. It's the natural result of not drinking, and I have chosen to not drink, and do what it takes to support that decision in my life.

But I don't discount that for some people to have gotten sober and continue to live sober is a miracle, only they would know how unlikely, impossible or unexpected that event is in their own life.

I think that some people are able to get sober because at some point the internal and external forces THEY need to do so come together. Others never get sober because the internal and external forces they need never come together.

In that sense, it can be compared to cancer...many people could have been cured of cancer had they gotten it diagnosed earlier, had access to the particular treatments that address their form of cancer, etc etc. But those things didn't happen.

Other people only got cancer because they started smoking, or were exposed to asbestos or radiation.

I guess what I am saying is...why do we call it a "miracle" if conditions come together for someone's benefit, but when just as many unlikely things come together that work to someone's detriment no one considers it miraculous..just bad luck?

I don't believe in the supernatural. Perhaps if I did, I would find it working in my life. Maybe I am blind or deluded, or maybe I see things just as they are...or maybe I live on a different plane of reality.

All I know is I only got sober for real when I chose to make serious changes in my life, those were not imposed on me from the outside, nor did I wake up one morning cured.

Jomey

I don't think my continued sobriety is a miracle, but I do think that there was something bigger than me that made the "day 1" which has led to these past six years of sobriety (still going strong!) different from the hundreds of other "day 1" attempts I had made over the years.

I think it was miraculous that I have come so far in changing my life.

My brother, on the other hand, is an active alcoholic, who is not willing or able to become sober right now. I don't know why that is. I wish I did. I wish he could be open to receiving the blessings I am receiving today. I feel grateful, humble, and blessed by what is happening to me. I wish everyone could find it, even if they weren't sure they even wanted it.

Latte

I believe I am a miracle. I believe this because God created me in his image and he is a miracle. My sobriety alone is not a miracle but my sober life is part of the miracle.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I am better than any person place or thing because I believe I am a miracle because I believe we are all God's miracles.

TexasMichael

My sobriety is a miracle to me.

After over 40 years of alcohol abuse I woke up with the usual severe hangover and knew I could stop drinking on that day.

The gift of sobriety is avaliable to each of us every day.

It is a personal choice if we chose to accept the miracle, or throw it away on another wasted day of intoxication.

Either way, we all eventually stop drinking. It is just a matter of how much personal pain you wish to endure before you do stop.

Notmyrealname

My sobriety a miracle? Oh, no. This is not the loaves and the fishes here. No blind man can suddenly see or lame man can stand to walk just because I put the cork in the bottle for keeps.

No, for me it was just a matter of moving past my fear and embracing and internalizing a truth that had been staring me in the face for quite some time. I call that "learning", and I hope I never stop. But a miracle? No. Maybe "a shamefully overdue revelation".

DoubleDragons

I have a prayer box. I write my worries on little pieces of paper and I put them in the box. Symbolically, it reminds me to completely surrender my problems to God (or universe, or Savior, Light Within, whatever works for you). Anyway, I was looking through it lately and one of my papers said "my drinking". I don't even know when I put it in there. God led me to SR. He/She gives me the daily strength to want to be better. I could choose to ignore this help and I would not be forced to take it. . . God is patient, God knows no time limits. Thankfully, I am ready now, so God is working yet another miracle in my life with sobriety. And I am so grateful. Thank you, as always, AO, for your wonderful, thought provoking posts.

Leana

I define a miracle as an unexplained happening- I quit drinking because I wanted to quit. As to the question of why some people can and others can't, I have no idea. I think if that question could be answered there would be no more alcoholics.

NoJimmy

That. I quit for 5 years before without surrendering or being spiritually enlightened. Could I have continued if I hadn't become complacent, sure. But looking back now, I don't think I ever resolved the issue of "why" I drank. That's what I'm addressing this time around.

dreamr

That's beautiful, I wanted to say something along those lines. Life itself is a miracle. The more we embrace that, the more we will get out of life.

Ornithology

No miracle, just resolve on my part not to drink. I can't credit a deity for not drinking, nor can I blame one for my alcohol addiction in the first place. It was just a bad habit that I am working hard to break.

mfanch

No. My recovery works because I work.

Amy2011

I believe my sobriety is a choice and hard work. I do believe in miracles though. I entered recovery in March of 2011 and 6 days later my oldest daughter was diagnosed with scoliosis. Her curve was obvious to the naked eye, no x-ray needed, and she was immediately prescribed a back brace to wear at night and for most of the day. We were told if the curve got worse she would need surgery. She was 3 days from her 12th birthday. I prayed for the next 3 months for no change in the curve, please no surgery. I knew that scoliosis doesn't disappear, the best we could hope for was no change. I asked my AA group to pray for her. When we returned to the doctor at the beginning of July we were told the curve was gone! The doctor said there was no medical explanation for what happened. The doctor said he had never seen this before in all of his years as pediatric orthopedic surgeon. I believe God gave my family a gift. We were broken and healing slowly as a family. My daughter continued to have back x-rays for 2 years every 4-6 months. This summer we were told that she is officially done growing as her growth plates have closed so she is in the clear. So, yes I believe in miracles.