Another 365- One At A Time
Today is 17 years (6209 days) of recovery. On this date in 1988 (Ronald Reagan was still president) I made the decision that changed my life. It was not an easy one. It was scary and exciting at the same time. I knew nothing about where it would lead. All I knew at that moment was that I was an alcoholic and had to do something or my life was done.

From that tiny, tiny, tiny first move in the direction of recovery has come a life that each day, each month, each year, has gotten progressively more interesting and serene. I have seen the promises of recovery come true in my life so powerfully that I am amazed and awed.

It is a simple program, though not easy to live, especially in the early days when all answers and suggestions and directions are met with the power of denial and the addict on the shoulder whispering (or yelling) at you not to do this. Recovery is baloney. Don't go there.

But I did- and continue to.

And for that all I can say is, "Thank you, God!"

Many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventure before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:
(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.
(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
(c) That God could and would if He were sought....

Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

May God bless you and keep you -- until then.
--from Chapters 5 & 11, Alcoholics Anonymous at www.recovery.org.