We say we are grateful to get sober, but are we? How many of us come into recovery bitter and afraid that we can no longer continue the party? How many want to come to an Orange County drug and alcohol treatment center like ours? When we look at it that way, not many.
Are We Really Grateful To Get Sober
When we first begin our path, most of us are consumed by fear. We are afraid that we either will not get what we need, or we are afraid that we will lose something we have. For some of us, that is family, a job, or maybe your freedom. It is often said that recovery is the club to which no one wants to be a member.
It is usually later that we really gain gratitude and appreciation for the Grace that has been shown to us. When we finally start to see the evidence of the futility of life as we had been living it; that is when the seeds of this gratitude are really sown. The lack of chaos, the lack of fear, the lack of shame—for many, these are new concepts, and when that finally becomes our new version of normal, we learn to find the serenity and comfort for which most of us searched for so long.
Even as we stay clean and sober, though, this is a continual evolution. We progress or regress according to our spiritual health with peaks and valleys. It is easy to say we are grateful to get sober when things are going the way we like, but it is when things don’t work out as planned when our gratitude is really put to the test.
Ironically, we can even be grateful for ingratitude! Even living a life of appreciation can cause complacency, so when we are forced to face out moments of ingratitude, we can see just how awesome our lives normally are. Often, it isn’t much that pushes us into these spiritual tantrums, but it doesn’t take much to push us back into gratitude either.
When things aren’t going according to plan, many of us forget that we should be in a concrete cell or a pine box. We may have lost a job, but we are employable because we aren’t trying to fill our flasks or syringes anymore. We may have had a disagreement with a family member, but we forget that not long ago that same family member said that they would never speak to us again.
How are you grateful to get sober today? How were you when you came in? Let us know your story!