This weekend I was cleaning out my closet when I began reflecting about my first days in sobriety 30 years ago.
When I first got into recovery in January of 91 all I had was the clothes on my back. Literally.
It took me several months to build anything resembling a wardrobe. Because I had a lot of entry-level jobs I would get clothing from the halfway house donation room. Or else take a few dollars and search the local second hand stores - because that was all I could afford.
Since I didn't have a lot of spare money for entertainment, I'd spend hours searching the second hand racks to find something that I could afford that also would fit. Today I found in the back of my closet a sport coat that I paid ten dollars for in 1991. It must be 30 or 40 years old today and it's still in good shape and fits me well.
But back to cleaning my closet. I must have gotten rid of 20 items, things I hadn't worn for five or six months.
I was inspired to do this a while back while I was reading about some very wealthy people who always wear the same clothes. And I think that's the way to live. After all who's going to like us better just because we wear expensive clothes with designer labels? Mark Zukerberg is always in tee shirts and levis. Barack Obama reportedly wore the same clothes. So did Steve Jobs. And these were or are some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world.
I guess the point of all this is that it's not what we wear that makes us who we are. What impresses others is who we are on the inside; it's the generosity, compassion and kindness we show others.
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