Wisdom Of The Rooms - 2020

[bluidkiti]

March 23

Quote of the Week

"The biggest thing I have to do today is not take a drink."

When I was new to recovery, I felt overwhelmed by all the things I felt I needed to do. First there was staying sober and finding a sponsor and trying to figure out the Steps and all that entailed. Then there was the immediate wreckage of my life and the worries I had about my finances, my relationships, and even my health. Next, I would lie in bed at night worrying about the long-term consequences of my years of drinking, and I would replay the regrets and resentments I had. I was an emotional wreck.

As I started opening up to my sponsor about all this, he listened patiently and then gently nudged me back to the present. He always began with the same question: “Are you sober today?” I answered that I was, and then tried to add, “But . . .” He quickly interrupted me and told me that being sober was the most important thing I could do, and once I made sobriety my priority, everything else would, over time, work out. Secretly I didn’t believe him, but I was out of options.

What I came to understand was that all the things I worried about, and all the problems I had, were mostly the result of my alcoholism. I caused most of the pain and suffering in my life by being selfish and self-centered, and by my grandiose thinking. The solution, I found, started when I quit drinking and started working the Steps. Day by day, my life did improve, and I finally understood what people meant when they said that if I put my head down on my pillow at night and was sober, then regardless of whatever else was happening, I was a winner. Today, I know that the biggest thing I have to do is not take a drink.