RECRUM: Recovery Ruminations: Gratitude

Monday, January 16, 2006

Gratitude

I'm grateful to be sober today. Just another day of sobriety, another daily reprieve from slavery to alcohol, is a miracle. I'm grateful to God for His mercy and grace in granting me this gift today.

By chance, by the steady cycle of earth's rotation, it happens that this is the 365th consecutive day of sobriety for me. So, today is my first AA birthday. :)

I pray that I will remain sober for the rest of today, and that tomorrow I will remember what I had to do today to stay sober. The rest will work out, according to God's design.

If anyone with fewer days of sobriety is wondering how to make it a year, the answer is simple: one day at a time!

20 Comments:

At 1/16/2006 12:42:00 PM, JJ said...: Happy "AA" Birthday!
Way to go my friend.
I am soooo proud of you.
I see you,
JJ
At 1/16/2006 01:17:00 PM, Gooey Munster said...: hAApy bithdAAy!!! That is a true miracle, 1 whole year! One day at a time, I have this as the fame to my license plate! I wish yo many more days of happy destinies!
At 1/16/2006 01:37:00 PM, Trudging said...: Happy Birthday, honey.
At 1/16/2006 03:29:00 PM, Rex said...: happy One Year! WTG! Keep on keeping on ONe Day at a Time...best wishes.
Rex
At 1/16/2006 03:56:00 PM, dAAve said...: hAAppy 525,600 seconds
At 1/16/2006 04:02:00 PM, Mary Christine said...: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Phil, Happy Birthday to you!
At 1/16/2006 04:10:00 PM, Shannon said...: 526,325 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35... seconds LOL just kidding... HAPPY 1 yr PHIL!
At 1/16/2006 06:26:00 PM, Scott W said...: Congratulations on this important milestone.
At 1/16/2006 07:46:00 PM, lash505 said...: Happy Birthday Phil
At 1/16/2006 08:53:00 PM, MrsM said...: Congratulations Phil. What a year its been!

You've turned away from alcohol and all the negativities its brought you.
You've become closer and more dedicated to God.
You've become closer and more dedicated to your son.
You're have worked hard at improving your life in (from what I can see) just about every area.
You've become a valued and supportive friend to many (we're lucky to have you bud).

Man you've done a lot in a year. Most might accomplish one or two of the things on that list in a years time, you have certainly gone a great distance. Thanks for being so humble to share it all.
At 1/17/2006 04:59:00 AM, Unknown said...: CongrAAtulations!
((((()))))
At 1/17/2006 07:05:00 AM, Sam said...: hoo-rAAy!!! Happy AA Birthday!
At 1/17/2006 09:09:00 AM, cantellya said...: GO PHIL! GO PHIL! IT'S YOUR AA BIRTHDAY! GO PHIL!
May this year be even better than the last!
At 1/17/2006 04:55:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Wow. Happy birthday, Phil! You're amazing!
At 1/17/2006 11:02:00 PM, lash505 said...: Happy Birthday
At 1/24/2006 06:37:00 AM, Rex said...: Happy Birthday! Thanks for the inspiration.....I have 6 months soon....a year seems so far away....but I'll keep trudging...one day at a time.
At 1/26/2006 11:39:00 AM, Scott M. Frey said...: Hi Phil, congrats.... I remember my 1st yr sober, what a rollercoaster... I wish you God's Grace and continued days of sobriety ahead, one at a time...

Check out my blog I just started "sobernuggets" hopefully we can get some people over there bloggin' away on recovery...
At 1/28/2006 09:40:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Happy B-day!
At 2/14/2006 09:06:00 PM, Shannon said...: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY PHIL MISS YOU AND HOPE ALL IS WELL IN LA
At 2/27/2006 08:41:00 PM, JJ said...: I miss you bro.
Hope all is well.
Please send me your address..please.
I see you,
JJ

Gratitude Happy Birthday, honey. hAAppy 525,600 seconds Happy Birthday Phil CongrAAtulations!
((((())))) hoo-rAAy!!! Happy AA Birthday! Happy Birthday Happy B-day!

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcoholâthat our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Addiction and Recovery Support Webring

I Have Survived Webring

Just For Today Webring

AlcoholAndDrugAbuse.com
Website

Alcoholism: Getting the Facts
National Institutes of Health

Frequently Asked Questions on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Institutes of Health

Alcohol Studies Database
Rutgers University

"...If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.

1. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness

2. We will not regret the past, nor wish to shut the door on it

3. We will comprehend the word serenity

4. We will know peace

5. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others

6. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear

7. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain insight into our fellows

8. Self-seeking will slip away

9. Our whole attitude and outlook will change

10. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us

11. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us

12. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us -- sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them..."
© A.A. World Services, Inc.

If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8