I heard a woman share in her story the other day that coming into a meeting for the first time was like, “They were throwing a surprise party just for me. They clapped and cheered when I told them I didn’t have a drink today.”
Surprise! You’re an alcoholic!
Sometimes we are the last to know. We knew there was something wrong in our lives, but it couldn’t be the alcohol, right? Everybody drinks, don’t they? Just because I drink now and then, doesn’t make me an alcoholic. Now and then. That seemed to be the problem. The justification of now AND then covered all of time for me. This was denial.
We can be sneaky with ourselves and others. Denial keeps us stuck in a place without possibility. We keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Insanity.
So, when the consequences happen and we get the baseball bat to the head, we actually see that what we are doing is not working anymore. That’s when we can start to poke holes in the top of the box we’ve put ourselves in. The light starts to shine through tiny holes. We can finally see how the alcohol might be a problem and there may be another way out of this prison we found ourselves in.
When we put down the drink. Ask for help. Come to meetings. Sit and listen to others’ stories that are remarkably like our own—that’s when the surprise party begins for us. God begins to speak directly to ME through the other people’s stories I hear in the meetings.
Yes, we are holding a place for you. There’s more of us than you realize. We are all here waiting to cheer you on to living in the truth and seeing that sobriety can be the surprise gift you were always wanting and waiting for.
I didn’t even want to BE an alcoholic, let alone a grateful one. Now, I am thrilled to admit that fact. I am a grateful alcoholic. In admitting it, I clear away all of the justification for bad behavior, break the silence that keeps my addiction in place, and I can see the truth—meeting it head on—together with you and with God.
And, the best part...
I get to show up and help somebody and be present for their surprise party!
What a gift.
To them and to me.
You can do it too.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
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