Corking the Bottle

My friend Woody directed me to this reminder in Facebook. It applies to struggling alcoholics, quarantined pandemic victims, lonely shut-ins, and all people all the time. Don't lose sight of the wonderful gifts God gives us every day. The rest of this article is worth reading as long as you don't get sick of scrolling through the ads.   https://iheartintelligence.com/always-be-grateful-for-what-you-have-no-matter-how-hard-life-gets/?fb=iis&fbclid=IwAR3RiXRnZilGasb_DQ4mrr41fZNVciI0TkK3lBMt3AFgF53_WNooweTKCw8 ...There are people around us who love and support us unconditionally. We have a family that stands by us from the very beginning of our lives. What’s more, we have friends who will always be there for us, no matter what. All of these loving human beings around us are the greatest treasure we can ask for. They give us strength, they give us love, they give us reasons to be alive. We should be grateful for each and every one of them....

Church was a big part of my life growing up. God wasn't. I have learned that both can exist without the other. Now I don't go to church. But I do have God in my life. As I said yesterday, I am going through the testimonials in the back of the Big Book. A passage from "The Missing Link" describes the link that I used to be missing in my life as well: "Following this spiritual path made a major difference in my life. It seemed to fill that lonely hole that I used to fill with alcohol. My self-esteem improved dramatically, and I knew happiness and serenity as I had never known it before, I started to see the beauty and usefulness in my own existence, and tried to express my gratitude through helping others in whatever ways I could. A confidence and faith entered my life and unraveled a plan for me that was bigger and better than I could have ever imagined." I passed along this message at my A.A. meeting a little while ago. I felt God was telling me to s...

[First published May 21, 2018] "That's gratitude for ya!" I've heard that a lot and maybe said it myself at least once or 99 times. These days I am working on not expecting gratitude. If I go out of my way for someone, I do it out of love and caring, not recognition. The other side of this nickel is being sure to express  my  gratitude to others, even for the little things. When someone lets me out into the traffic flow, I wave my gratitude. I was treated to lunch today, and I certainly thanked my host. If you read my first entry to this blog, you will see that I lost my gratitude to God. I expected Him to go easy on me. Styx sang, "I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high." That was me. I forgot it wasn't my brains or beauty that made my life so comfortable. It was God. I lost a lot from those days past, including my sobriety. Now I thank God for sun when it's sunny, rain when it's raining, and a day of sobriety when I don'...

"That's gratitude for ya!" I've heard that a lot and maybe said it myself at least once or 99 times. These days I am working on not expecting gratitude. If I go out of my way for someone, I do it out of love and caring, not recognition. The other side of this nickel is being sure to express my gratitude to others, even for the little things. When someone lets me out into the traffic flow, I wave my gratitude. I was treated to lunch today, and I certainly thanked my host. If you read my first entry to this blog, you will see that I lost my gratitude to God. I expected Him to go easy on me. Styx sang, "I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high." That was me. I forgot it wasn't my brains or beauty that made my life so comfortable. It was God. I lost a lot from those days past, including my sobriety. Now I thank God for sun when it's sunny, rain when it's raining, and a day of sobriety when I don't drink. Today's A.A. Daily Refl...