Recovery literature gives us the phrase "we are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness." This is a wonderful promise, one that I realized had come into my life a few years after I got sober. At first this freedom and happiness seemed unreal. This new state of being was something that I was not used to and sometimes I didn't know how to deal with it.

The reason I didn't know how to deal it was because I hadn't had any experience with it since early childhood. During my drinking and drugging years I didn't know anything about freedom and happiness. I knew a lot about self-induced misery and a lot about having no freedom. While I believe the authors of the promises weren't necessarily talking about being out of jail, for many years I didn't have any kind of freedom. I didn't have the psychological kind and I was often incarcerated for drug-related offenses. And I didn't have any kind of real happiness either.

Today I know how to deal with freedom and happiness. In sobriety I have learned how to use my freedom wisely and use it to live my life to the fullest. I have the freedom to choose what kind of work I do. Early in my sobriety I chose to work in a field where I am able to help others in recovery on a daily basis.

And this is happiness in itself.