The full spectrum of life.

   It’s good to stop and smell the roses, look around and appreciate all that sobriety has brought about. Life and sobriety is all encompassing. Family, fellowship and friendship is without a doubt the greatest blessing the program has brought. While drinking I had alienated myself from family and friends. I had no interest in starting a family of my own. Sobriety and sanity rebuilt those relationships. In sobriety I was also able to hold a job and relationship. The relationship brought about marriage, a home and children. All these things were built on the foundation of sobriety. This makes sobriety more imperative today than the ever before. Drinking would not only destroy my life but severely affect the lives of those I love.

   Sobriety has provided me with the capacity to face life’s challenges. It has been said in many ways and many times around the tables, “Just because you’re sober doesn’t mean life will be easy and everyone will love you.” It takes strength, resolve and a thick skin to face the challenges life dishes out. The sober life provides joy and gratitude but like everyone else in the world we also face crisis, tragedy and the struggle for survival. Sobriety brings about a temporary state of euphoria where suddenly everything is good. AA calls this the pink cloud. This illusion fades as time passes and the reality of life returns. The program provides the tools to deal with the entire spectrum of life; good, bad and ugly.

   Today I can say with gratitude, that I wouldn’t miss this life for anything. No question about it, I was more comfortable emotionally with few drinks under my belt, but for this alcoholic the price of comfort would have meant sacrificing a life lived to its fullest and shared with those I love.