Tag Archives: addiction

Forgiveness and Gifts

The Beauty of Forgiveness

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A new year is underway and I believe it will provide many gifts as long as I stay sober. The greatest gift is that from God. I know that he will protect me from temptation to drink if I honestly seek it and commune with him on a daily basis.  By God’s Will and his Grace I look forward to the beauty that may lie ahead.

I would like to share some of my greatest gifts that sobriety has offered. Over the last 13 years I have been able to make amends to many people I  had harmed as a result of my reckless and irresponsible behaviors of the past. It is a wonderful feeling to have gained the trust of my family again.  I try very hard to honor commitments and I fray away from lying or making excuses.  What a horrible way that way was to live as I recall my past behaviors while drinking.

A beautiful gift is that my grandchildren have never had to see me take a drink. God willing they will never have to. I do hope that my children never have to experience that again as well. I recall my stomach turning and twisting every time I saw my father start drinking again when I was a child. He did his best to raise me even though he to suffered from the Disease of Alcoholism. This last sentence is good to remember and reminds me to talk to my children and really find out how they felt seeing me drink on a daily basis. I have made amends to them but I don’t think I ever really sat down and discussed their feelings about my drinking years. I will make this a point to do in person the next time I see them. So you see, there are many ways to look at gifts of sobriety and the chance to get to talk to them face to face is a blessing for me.

There have been many other beautiful gifts that sobriety has yielded, like a wonderful marriage to my beautiful, caring and understanding wife. I am no longer as selfish as I once was  and see the future as an opportunity to try to impact and help as many lives ( both suffering alcoholics and others) as God allows.

The greatest gift is my relationship with God. I feel he has forgiven me for my past behaviors and loves me unconditionally. In previous posts I described how I used to be angry every morning because he didn’t take my life overnight because of my daily abusive behavior when I was actively drinking. I am very grateful that I don’t have to live that way anymore. He has given me good health and a new found desire to live a long life.

These are just a few of the greatest rewards I have received over the years of sobriety and they far surpass any material gifts. Material gifts are nice but do not compare to spiritual gifts that have come my way.

Thanks for reading. I invite you to share your wonderful gifts you have received and pass on this website to others who may need help getting sober or while in recovery. God Bless you all.

 

The Wasted Years - I don't have to live that way anymore

24 Hours at a Time

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A new year is about to begin and many resolutions will be made. As far as my sobriety goes I care to just look at it one day at a time. I feel with prayer and conscious contact during the day with God, and by his grace, I can stay sober  for the day. I have heard it said that since ones future is uncertain, it makes sense to commit to staying sober for a 24 hour period rather than overwhelming  oneself’s  with thoughts the future. This helps me to stay focused on the gift of sobriety as my number one daily resolution. I may make some resolutions or set goals for the new year but they will take a back seat in my effort to remain clean and sober. Over the last 13 years this approach has worked for me and other recovered alcoholics as I have heard. Please join me and countless others in making a daily resolution to stay sober. I feel it will be the best resolution of all.

To those still suffering from the disease of alcoholism and desperately want to get and stay sober, my wish is that you can find a resource, whether it be Rehabilitation, Alcoholics Anonymous, Clergy , Counseling or a combination of them or any avenue that can get you clean and on your way to a life of joy and happiness, free from the chains of alcoholism that bound you. I am confident you can do it and I pray for all those still suffering.

Thank You for reading and feel free to make and comments, that can help alcoholics trapped in the cycle of addiction, get free. God Bless and have a Happy New Year.

 

God

“But for the Grace of God, there I go”

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“But for the Grace of God, there I go”.  I recently encountered a  situation where I reminded myself of this passage. It was  on Thanksgiving day, celebrated here in the U.S.,  that I encountered what appeared to be an intoxicated man. I was in a convenient store buying my customary Diet Pepsi cola when a man lined up, at the cashier’s station, to my left side. He was a thin man dressed in soiled clothing with his head hanging low while he awaited his turn to pay.  He was purchasing  three beers at about 8 am.  After paying I returned to my truck and he shortly followed. He was driving a vehicle that did not appear to be in good order as it sit with the wheels over line of the marked parking place. As I stared over at him I remembered the passage above and how I must always remember it. It has been a number of years now but I remember vividly the times when I was purchasing  and consuming alcohol early in the morning  to quiet my nerves in order just to function. My head was always hung low and my vehicle was always on the brink of not working. I am grateful that God was with me at those times of great despair and destruction in my life. I must always remember that passage and realize that I am just one drink away from being that person I encountered that morning. I don’t know that mans story but if he is a suffering soul as was I,  may he allow  God to carry him to sobriety, if he so chooses. I will always try to remember that “But for the Grace of God, there I go”.  and that it applies to any situation or person I encounter from the desolate person to the well dressed ones suffering from the disease of Alcoholism.  God I pray for your help in getting those who wish for a better life and sobriety as well as the persons not ready or willing to accept your hand to somehow desire to change. I am grateful that you were there for me in my time of desperation even though I didn’t know it.  God bless all those suffering souls out there and my wish for them is to find sobriety and peace.

Thank you for allowing me to share my experience and feel free to comment and post your thoughts.

 

Holiday Precautions

Holiday Precautions

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The holiday seasons and their celebrations, for many, are approaching and I am really looking forward to them. It’s a time for me to share precious time with family members, especially those that I only get to see a few times a year. Sober life is going by fast for me and I don’t want to miss any of it.  What a joy, however that was not always the case.  During my active alcoholic years, the holidays  used to be a time of anger and disappointment within myself that other people had cheerful and wonderful times and I didn’t. Of course it was of my own making. You see, I put the bottle in front of family and just about anything else. Thankfully, God and a lot of good people along the way pulled me away from that ill way of living and thinking and what a blessing it has been. My wish is that same has happened for you or that it will for you if you honestly want to get sober and allow God to come into your life. I say this because if I could have gotten sober by my own free will then that would have happened way back in 1991 when I made my first attempt to stop drinking. It did not work then and for the next 12 years it did not as well, as I tried hundreds of times on my own to do so, sometimes twice in one day only to get drunk all over again. All I can say then is that God allowed me to get sober because it had been proven that it was not of my own doing. I am just suggesting this because it worked for me.

I just had a few other things I wanted to share today. With lots of celebration there may be a lot of alcohol being served or consumed at various  functions in your life. I suggest that you be very careful in protecting your sobriety. For me, if I must attend some of these events I like to try to bring a friend along to be there for me in case temptation to drink prevents itself. As it has been said before, there is a monster inside of me just waiting to come out and return to my active alcoholic days. May that never happen to any of us but it is just waiting for us to take that first drink. Secondly, I like to know what I am drinking at all times. Some of the tempting looking refreshments may contain alcohol. I suggest pouring your own non-alcoholic drink and holding on to the cup or glass. If you happen to set it down and forget which one is your then pour you a fresh drink in another cup. This may sound silly or wasteful to you but I do it to protect my sobriety at all cost. My experience at functions is that many times there will be numerous cups or glasses hanging around with drink remaining in them and you never know if you accidentally may mix your cup up with another and get a different drink, one that may contain alcohol. I may be redundant in posting these suggestions, as I have posted similar suggestions before, but I just feel it’s a good idea to revisit this at times, especially during times  cheerful celebration.

I hope these suggestions will be helpful and that you do whatever it takes to stay sober. For those of you still ill from the disease of alcoholism my sincere wish is that you make seek God as a savior, not necessarily in the religious sense but more from a belief that some greater power than yourself , can help you achieve sobriety. I hope this post shows you what I do, as a recovered alcoholic, to protect my sobriety. May everyone be blessed and stay safe over this holiday season.

Thanks for reading and feel free to post any comments, you wish, that may help the still suffering alcoholic out there, find sobriety .

 

Staying Focused

Regaining Focus

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I have really myself  losing focus, over the past month, on the importance of maintaining my most spiritual  practices; foremost daily prayer and meditation. For nearly 12 3/4 years of sobriety I can confidentially say that I hadn’t missed a day of prayer and meditation. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this is so important in my daily life of sobriety. I looked forward to it every morning by finding a quiet place in my home for deep prayer and reading. It was and will again continue to be my first action of the day. However, this past month I have been very neglectful in this area. I must admit to having missed more than at least five days of prayer over the past month. I have no excuses except to say I have placed other activities first in the beginning my day first.

The primary focus for writing my book, and starting a website with a blog on this site and another, was to reach out to suffering alcoholics to show that there is hope for a better life. Over the last month I have been preoccupied with seeing if I have followers on my sites as well as any comments. I have wondered if my book sales have reached out to suffering alcoholics and their families, or not. I am coming to the realization that I may never know. I feel reaching out to help is my calling and am going to continue my quest. I have to remember not to seek personal recognition for it is not I who am doing all the work. It is God.  I have been back on focus over the last week, with regards to daily prayer, so I do not lose focus on its importance in my life. I thank God for this awakening for it could have been a real endangerment to that which most importantly keeps me sober on a daily basis.  It has been said that ” God is doing for me what I could not do for myself”. I believe this and feel very blessed.

In addition, I will try blog more frequently as my hope  that this site and others will gain followers so that comments/discussions may help a suffering alcoholic seek sober way of life. May God continue to send blessings your way.