Gratitude

It was 21 years ago...

7,670 sets of 24 hours....

The day the music was reborn.

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

I came to understand that life was not going where I thought it was. Today I understand a great deal more about addiction and alcoholism. I know the early warning signs that someone like me had- and was blind to.

Today I understand that addiction is a disease that has been set in action in some of the deeper parts of my brain. It is one of the physical consequences of the chemicals we become addicted to.

Today I understand that addiction starts by eating away the spiritual roots of life and turning inward in destructive ways. That it continues with the psychological barriers to its own discovery. Soon it hits the social networks that are essential to healthy human life. Finally it takes the physical and ends up tearing apart the fabric of life.

Today I also understand that addiction is not a death sentence and alcoholism is not a one-way ticket to the sanitarium. There is hope. Through help and honesty, humility and gratitude people every day are overcoming its hold on them. They can be in recovery.

Today I am grateful. Twenty-one years have come and gone and I do not regret one moment of those days.

And to all who have been part of this journey in one way or another, I offer you my deepest heartfelt thanks.