[bluidkiti]

October 11

Quote of the Week

"The program does for us slowly what alcohol did for us quickly."

I clearly remember what I felt like before recovery. I was anxious, on edge, and so uncomfortable with my life that I wanted and needed to escape from it. Each morning I awoke with the terror of a new day, and making it through that day was a real struggle. I can also remember the immediate sense of ease and comfort that came from that first drink. Suddenly everything was okay; I had a new plan, and there was some hope for the future.

Drinking and escaping like this were my solution for a long time, but it stopped working. I reached a point where I couldn’t imagine life with alcohol, and I couldn’t imagine my life without it either. I was at a jumping-off point. In the beginning of my recovery, meetings and fellowship offered me temporary relief from the near constant dread and anxiety I felt. The problem was how to survive between meetings, and it was very rough going for quite a while.

And that’s when I heard someone share, “We go to meetings for relief, but we work the steps for recovery.” And as I worked my program, I found this to be true. The relief and sense of ease and comfort I used to get from drinking began now to be part of my everyday experience. After a while, I actually had moments of peace and serenity, and much of the time I even felt comfortable in my own skin. One day I realized that the program had done for me slowly what alcohol used to do for me quickly.