This could be something you need to hear..
 

Hey ya'll,

I've been thinking a lot about something I read recently that moved and inspired me. I still can't believe what perfect timing it was when I found it, and realized that someone else out there might need it too.

I was reading To Kill A Mockingbird recently. I had never read it before, though I did have a general understanding of what it was about.
There was something in it though that I did not expect, and the timing was particularly pointed since I was reading this while in my first weeks of recovery.

Basically, within the story, there is an old crabby woman (Mrs. Dubose) who is briefly in the novel. She is addicted to morphine and pain killers. When she is informed that she only has months to live because of an illness, she decides to ween herself off.
It's even said that death is the best reason a person can have not to quit using, so they don't suffer. But she wanted to leave this world "beholden to nothing and nobody."

So she tapers off the drugs slowly. And then she's free. And then she dies. Of corse, she suffered through withdrawal at first. It was painful and awful, but it passes. In the end, she remains conscious until her death, which was what she wanted.

The part I really love is a quote/lesson Atticus (a father) imparts on his children after he tells them how she died. He says,
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she was beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."

I've never felt like getting sober was brave. I've been told that I'm selfish and self-indulgent, never brave. Maybe, it actually is brave though. Getting sober is mentally and physically challenging with hardly any instant gratification, and it'd be so easy to give up. But we don't.

I just wanted to remind anyone struggling right now, that this is a big undertaking. You're brave for trying to regain your life back from whatever it was you were trading it in for. We were all licked before we begun, but we began anyway. And that's amazing.
You all inspire me to stay sober everyday. Thank you.

What a great post CybilVane, thank you! Your words have given me such a boost. I don't know why I have never read this book but certainly will now :)

Very cool. Thanks for the post!

Thank you for your post. I am having a hard time getting past a week. It hurts when I am told I am not trying when they don't know that I fight everyday. We fight everyday. Fight for our real lives.

One of my favorite books of all time! SO many nuggets of wisdom throughout!

Thanks for this post!

I don't know who's telling you that, but I believe you are trying. Don't listen to negativity....you keep fighting for yourself and for your real life!