What if it's actually a Gift?
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What if it's actually a Gift?
Ronda Rousey became a champion
To shrug of booze and pills
Henry Rollins' musical poetry is grounded in sober living
Tom Waits looks back and realizes
It was a lie all those years - but now he's creatively clean
And we look all around us
Feeling envy, feeling glum
"Why can't WE be like them"??
Clinging to that dream of "normal"
Falling again, again, again
We see these attitudes
Comments, ads and marketing campaigns
There are hushed whispers about relatives with "problems"
Celebrities being crucified
"out of control" - they say
All of it leaves us feeling
Like something is wrong with us
Like WE are the broken ones
As though we've failed
Because poison isn't our thing
But wait, hang on... can that really be right?
What if we're looking at it all wrong?
Isn't it possible, isn't it perhaps even probable
We're the lucky ones?
Isn't this curse our greatest blessing?
Because unlike "them" we need not waste
Not even a moment
We no longer have to numb ourselves
No more must we escape
This Gift is the Present
What if - Right Now - and from this moment forward
We looked at this shining path we're on
And saw it for what it really is
What if we shook off the burden of our gloom
And accepted this blessing with all we've got?
To shrug of booze and pills
Henry Rollins' musical poetry is grounded in sober living
Tom Waits looks back and realizes
It was a lie all those years - but now he's creatively clean
And we look all around us
Feeling envy, feeling glum
"Why can't WE be like them"??
Clinging to that dream of "normal"
Falling again, again, again
We see these attitudes
Comments, ads and marketing campaigns
There are hushed whispers about relatives with "problems"
Celebrities being crucified
"out of control" - they say
All of it leaves us feeling
Like something is wrong with us
Like WE are the broken ones
As though we've failed
Because poison isn't our thing
But wait, hang on... can that really be right?
What if we're looking at it all wrong?
Isn't it possible, isn't it perhaps even probable
We're the lucky ones?
Isn't this curse our greatest blessing?
Because unlike "them" we need not waste
Not even a moment
We no longer have to numb ourselves
No more must we escape
This Gift is the Present
What if - Right Now - and from this moment forward
We looked at this shining path we're on
And saw it for what it really is
What if we shook off the burden of our gloom
And accepted this blessing with all we've got?
Last edited by Dee74; 10-12-2015 at 03:54 PM.
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Originally Posted by dcg 
What if it's a gift to be an ex-drunk...? Yeah, I'm not buying it.
I feel I have been set free from a trap that was keeping me from the truth of the richness of life, and that - to me - feels like a gift.
You may not see it that way, yet perhaps if you allow the idea a little space, there might be ways it could be true for you.
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Originally Posted by FreeOwl
Well, I don't ask you to buy it.
Originally Posted by FreeOwl
I feel I have been set free from a trap that was keeping me from the truth of the richness of life, and that - to me - feels like a gift.
You may not see it that way, yet perhaps if you allow the idea a little space, there might be ways it could be true for you.
You may not see it that way, yet perhaps if you allow the idea a little space, there might be ways it could be true for you.
No offense - I see the benefit of the power of positive thinking and all, but if there's one thing I've learned being sober the last couple of months, it is to see things very clearly and for what they are.
You'll likely call this crystal-clear vision a gift; I call it something that I've always had but was obfuscated by booze. I'll certainly call my sobriety a gift over those who still are getting hammered every night, but in comparison to those who never engaged, I don't see it as such.
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I'm pretty excited about my recovery. I've honed my spiritualism, I'm grateful, I like my new friends, I wouldn't change a thing. Life is a gift. Well said Free Owl (after you replace "it" with "if"). JOKE!
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Posts: 120,877
I consider my sobriety and recovery one of the greatest gifts that I have been given.
While I hate the fact that I succumbed to alcoholism, I am in a way grateful for my alcoholic experience. I am now able to share that experience and offer understanding and support. You never know when that sharing, understanding and support will be the catalyst for another's recovery. Being able to do that is a gift.
While I hate the fact that I succumbed to alcoholism, I am in a way grateful for my alcoholic experience. I am now able to share that experience and offer understanding and support. You never know when that sharing, understanding and support will be the catalyst for another's recovery. Being able to do that is a gift.
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a slight clarifying comment...
I'm not grateful for many of the experiences themselves; the pain I've caused, the wreckage I've left, the time I've wasted.
But I'm grateful for the sum of those parts - because I think that all of those experiences are what it took for me personally to truly and deeply embrace the gift of life.
Without them, I could easily see myself languishing in an illusion of contentment. I now look at many of my "normal" peers - who don't really have what I'd consider a 'problem' with drinking. I see them contentedly spending time with other peers; appreciating wine, enjoying martinis, hanging out at the brewery. All of these pursuits seem now, in the light of my choice of sobriety, to be pursuits that are below the experience that I want my life to be about. Sure, sometimes I get a little nostalgic or melancholy about it when I see others having a 'good time' with alcohol. But then I quickly realize that if I were to die tomorrow - I would far prefer today to have been about a trail run, a walk in the woods, a sunrise seen sober, moments fully experienced, time spent with my children - than even the most fantastic of nights sitting around drinking a toxic liquid.
I'm not grateful for many of the experiences themselves; the pain I've caused, the wreckage I've left, the time I've wasted.
But I'm grateful for the sum of those parts - because I think that all of those experiences are what it took for me personally to truly and deeply embrace the gift of life.
Without them, I could easily see myself languishing in an illusion of contentment. I now look at many of my "normal" peers - who don't really have what I'd consider a 'problem' with drinking. I see them contentedly spending time with other peers; appreciating wine, enjoying martinis, hanging out at the brewery. All of these pursuits seem now, in the light of my choice of sobriety, to be pursuits that are below the experience that I want my life to be about. Sure, sometimes I get a little nostalgic or melancholy about it when I see others having a 'good time' with alcohol. But then I quickly realize that if I were to die tomorrow - I would far prefer today to have been about a trail run, a walk in the woods, a sunrise seen sober, moments fully experienced, time spent with my children - than even the most fantastic of nights sitting around drinking a toxic liquid.
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Location: Canada
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Originally Posted by FreeOwl
a slight clarifying comment...
I'm not grateful for many of the experiences themselves; the pain I've caused, the wreckage I've left, the time I've wasted.
But I'm grateful for the sum of those parts - because I think that all of those experiences are what it took for me personally to truly and deeply embrace the gift of life.
Without them, I could easily see myself languishing in an illusion of contentment. I now look at many of my "normal" peers - who don't really have what I'd consider a 'problem' with drinking. I see them contentedly spending time with other peers; appreciating wine, enjoying martinis, hanging out at the brewery. All of these pursuits seem now, in the light of my choice of sobriety, to be pursuits that are below the experience that I want my life to be about. Sure, sometimes I get a little nostalgic or melancholy about it when I see others having a 'good time' with alcohol. But then I quickly realize that if I were to die tomorrow - I would far prefer today to have been about a trail run, a walk in the woods, a sunrise seen sober, moments fully experienced, time spent with my children - than even the most fantastic of nights sitting around drinking a toxic liquid.
I'm not grateful for many of the experiences themselves; the pain I've caused, the wreckage I've left, the time I've wasted.
But I'm grateful for the sum of those parts - because I think that all of those experiences are what it took for me personally to truly and deeply embrace the gift of life.
Without them, I could easily see myself languishing in an illusion of contentment. I now look at many of my "normal" peers - who don't really have what I'd consider a 'problem' with drinking. I see them contentedly spending time with other peers; appreciating wine, enjoying martinis, hanging out at the brewery. All of these pursuits seem now, in the light of my choice of sobriety, to be pursuits that are below the experience that I want my life to be about. Sure, sometimes I get a little nostalgic or melancholy about it when I see others having a 'good time' with alcohol. But then I quickly realize that if I were to die tomorrow - I would far prefer today to have been about a trail run, a walk in the woods, a sunrise seen sober, moments fully experienced, time spent with my children - than even the most fantastic of nights sitting around drinking a toxic liquid.
So I totally agree!
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Love this!
FreeOwl this is great. I've been thinking of how my problem could be a gift for this reason:
If i could moderate, I'd keep drinking as a default habit especially in social situations.
And I've come to realize that sober connection between people is far more intimate, genuine, and simply mind blowing sometimes. I didn't have that EVEN when I seemed to drink lightly!!
If i could moderate, I'd keep drinking as a default habit especially in social situations.
And I've come to realize that sober connection between people is far more intimate, genuine, and simply mind blowing sometimes. I didn't have that EVEN when I seemed to drink lightly!!
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Originally Posted by SportsFan15
FreeOwl this is great. I've been thinking of how my problem could be a gift for this reason:
If i could moderate, I'd keep drinking as a default habit especially in social situations.
And I've come to realize that sober connection between people is far more intimate, genuine, and simply mind blowing sometimes. I didn't have that EVEN when I seemed to drink lightly!!
If i could moderate, I'd keep drinking as a default habit especially in social situations.
And I've come to realize that sober connection between people is far more intimate, genuine, and simply mind blowing sometimes. I didn't have that EVEN when I seemed to drink lightly!!
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I agree...it IS a gift.
I sit back and watch...but not with ego. I can see others who one day are going to reach out to me because they want what I fought to achieve...and I'll be there for them. So thankful that I am ME now.
I sit back and watch...but not with ego. I can see others who one day are going to reach out to me because they want what I fought to achieve...and I'll be there for them. So thankful that I am ME now.
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Originally Posted by YoungAndClean
I appreciate your optimism but addiction is no gift.
I have come to see it as a gift.
You clearly don't - and that's OK.
But, it doesn't mean it's not a gift for me. And it may well be that someone else's perspective could be shifted in such a way that it finally helps them turn the corner and break out of the cycle in the same way that the shift did for me.
SO...
With that in mind allow me to indulge a slight modification to your quote above;
"I appreciate your optimism but for ME, addiction is no gift."
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