Saturday, March 8, 2014

I got to? Or I get to?

Early in my recovery my sponsor corrected me when I said "I have to go to a meeting."

"No," he said. "You get to go to a meeting." And his emphasis was on the word "get."

And ever since I've tried to weave his admonition into my daily conversation and thinking. And I've lived with that philosophy for most of my recovery.

As a recovering heroin addict and alcoholic I know on a deep level I'm very privileged to still be alive in my eighth decade of life.

And I know that many of you – especially those of you in recovery – share my sentiments.

How many times have we dodged death from a drug overdose? Or from driving drunk? How much did we damage our health as we poured alcohol and drugs into our bodies? How many friends have we lost to this disease? Friends who were living on the edge right along with us? Yet somehow they didn't make it. But we survived the insanity that surrounded us.

God has spared us for some reason.  And I believe we should be grateful that we "get" to do the things we do each day. 

 Some of our peers no longer are alive to enjoy the challenge.