I Love the Freedom Sobriety Brings
I love the freedom my new life affords me. The benefits I enjoy today are a direct result of working and living the 12 Steps of the AA program. To get here, I first had to surrender to the truth that I could no longer safely drink. I also had to accept that I could not do this alone. I thank God that I found AA, where others were seeking the same solution I desperately needed.
The solution was not simply giving up alcohol. It was the change that came from living the 12 Steps and allowing the program to transform my life into something new and wonderful. I am no longer a victim, nor am I an unwilling slave to addiction. Today, I can live and enjoy my life. I have new friends and opportunities that I would have completely overlooked if I were still drinking. Life is good.
I have peace of mind today, and no longer feel the need to look over my shoulder, wondering whether something I did or said will come back to haunt me. I no longer have to make excuses for not showing up at work. People trust me, and they value my opinions. Things are right in my world and right with God. I am at peace, and that is what serenity means to me.
Serenity
Serenity is not simply a fleeting feeling or a momentary emotion. For me, it is the peace that comes from trying to live AA’s way of life each day. It is one of the rewards I receive from practicing the program. AA works. I know that feeling of serenity can continue as long as I remain willing to live by this suggested program of recovery. God knows I am not perfect, but each day I try to live my sober life to the best of my ability.
By the grace of a loving God, my Higher Power, and through AA, I have been freed from the slavery of obsession and compulsion. I have real choices today. That freedom has released me from so much guilt, resentment, fear, needless anxiety, and remorse. I can face life instead of trying to escape from it.
Of course, there are still ups and downs in sobriety. There always will be. I still have to deal with finances, health, the loss of loved ones, and the occasional setback. Sobriety does not give me a life without problems.
What sobriety gives me is a solution.
My solution is no longer oblivion when I cannot deal with life on life’s terms. I don’t have to drink my way out of difficult circumstances or run from feelings I don’t want to face. I can deal with life as it comes, one day at a time.
That, to me, is freedom.
I am deeply grateful that I finally surrendered to the truth that there was a better way to live—and it was not my way.