[bluidkiti]

July 1

Quote of the Week

"I could drink, or I could do everything else."

By the end of my drinking, my world had become very small. I lost my job, again, but this time I didn’t get a new one. Most of my friends and family didn’t want to hang out with me much because I was usually drunk, or well on my way there. I had long ago abandoned my hobbies like photography and reading; they tended to get in the way of my drinking. In the end, I was alone on my couch with my booze.

I’ll never forget my first meeting—on a Tuesday night in Westwood, California. It was a large, hip speaker meeting at a church. There were probably a couple of hundred people there, and it was like I had arrived at a concert. People were talking, laughing, racing in and out of the room at the break. Wow! For a brief instant I felt part of the human race again. Later, after I had joined the program, I learned that the path back to life was through the Twelve Steps, and I committed to taking them.

As I got sober, my life did open up. There were lots of meetings, sober parties, fellowship, and more. I got a job again, learned how to be of service, and started sponsoring others. In sobriety I’ve traveled the world, gotten married, started businesses, written and published books. And each morning I greet the new day with joy and optimism. These days whenever I think of a drink, I think of everything else I would have to give up. Nothing, especially a drink, is worth all I’ve been blessed with in recovery.