DOUBLE DOWN

While drinking, any chance I could, I would make mine a double.

More is better, right?... Well, not always.

More alcohol for me just took me further from reality, sanity and the truth.

Separation from God. Making it a double, got me drunk faster.

So, if that’s the case, in sobriety, it must follow that if I double my efforts to stay sober, it would get me to safety faster, closer to reality, sanity or truth, right? Not separated from God, my source of power. I have to expand my thinking to ensure my recovery stays in place. If I put half the effort into sobriety that I put into my drinking career, I just might stay sober.

Holy cow. Do the math. If I double down on my efforts to stay sober, I could not only ensure my own recovery, but have energy to help someone else stay sober too!

Definition of Double Down:

1) to double the original bid in blackjack in exchange for only one more card

2) to become more tenacious, zealous, or resolute in a position or undertaking

I like both definitions.

I think I will double down on my efforts to stay sober by picking up one more card for my new hand, and become more tenacious, zealous and resolute in that position.

Now, I double down on hugs for people and dogs.

How about you?

“Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.”

Isaiah 61:7

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NO MORE EXCUSES

I had plenty of excuses to drink. Everything was a good reason. You did this or that and it was your fault. Then, I didn’t even need an excuse to drink. Upsetting circumstances—or a party—were always the thing that would take me into drinking. I wasn’t sure how to do this life without alcohol—bad OR good.

When I got sober, I learned that bad stuff AND good stuff still happens in life. I realized that circumstances could not be my excuse anymore.

Someone said to me, “You have what you want in life or—you have the excuses why you don’t have what you want in life.” That was a powerful thought for me. I had a say in how it went? Hmmm…

I knew that I was powerless over alcohol, and that I needed help from God every day to choose to live without drinking. I also have a responsibility to choose to live my life again—or anew—without excuses.

I will always have circumstances that challenge me. It is how I handle them that matters most now that alcohol is not the solution anymore. Responding, not reacting.

I was fifty-years-old before I quit drinking. Many get it long before I did. I guess I am a slow learner. I tried for many years to stop drinking on my own and could not do it. If I could have done it on my own, I would have! When I finally turned my will and life over to God and asked for help, that is when it all fell into place.

The miracle began.

Now, my life is beyond my wildest dreams. Still challenging, but I can do it all with the help of others like myself and with trust in God. I don’t have to understand how it works, I just have to have faith. When each new day dawns, I am grateful for another chance to be present, sober and help somebody else.

No more excuses.

If I can do this, you can too!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. ”

Proverbs 3:5-6

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