Five Months

Unbelievable! I think this might be the longest time I have ever gone without a drink not counting my pregnancies. I did have a period of time in 2004 (after I ruined Christmas dinner and the house filled up with smoke. Remind me to tell you about it sometime:) and I honestly do not remember when I picked up. Somewhere between 4-6 months. When I thought I could handle alcohol. The difference is I am sober now. Not just not drinking. The difference is I don't feel as though I am missing anything. I feel as though I have gained something. The difference is I am searching my soul and liking what I find and with help removing what I don't. The difference is I have a program. The program of AA. The difference is I am not alone.

So thank you to all of you who so freely share. Not sure where I would be had I not found this forum where I am learning to express myself and where I am gaining experience, strength and hope. I am grateful for finding the Spirit of the Universe which has allowed me to connect because I believe that connection has allowed me to heal.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.