Aug. 15, 2012 - Just for Today

Just for Today
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012

“To my mind, drinking didn’t have anything to do with not going through with things. I don’t know whether I drank to cover up being a failure, or whether I drank and then missed the deals. I was able to rationalize it anyway. I can well remember over a long period of years when I thought I was the only person in the world who knew that sooner or later I was going to get drunk.” - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, “Personal Stories,” Ch 2 (“He Had to be Shown”), p 198.

Just for today, I will not waste physical or emotional energy asking, “Why me?” Did I drink because I was a failure, or maybe to celebrate being successful and I “earned” the right to drink? Or maybe I couldn’t overcome some devastating loss and collapsed into a heap of self-pity or bruised ego. If I have to ask, though, more likely the reason why was that I was a pre-destined addictive drinker and, possibly even more likely, I barreled toward masochistic self-destruction. Today, in recovery, “Why me?” is no longer relevant because what is, is, and the First Step of admitting I am powerless makes “Why me?” a pointless question. Today, instead of lamenting why I am an alcoholic, I’ll focus on the Program that keeps me a sober one. And our common journey continues. Just for today. - Chris M., 2012

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