I thought I would title this post about the promises because at times I take them for granted. When I was drinking I never new peace so lets focus on this one first.
(3) We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace””
I always felt like I had to be doing more and could never shut my mind off in sobriety often times I still can’t but with meditation and exercise I have learned to refocus those bad thoughts into good ones. Most days now if I catch myself going down that road I envision a stop sign and remind myself I am doing the best I can.
(1) We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
I can go and do anything in sobriety I do not avoid certain situations unless I know those people, places and things are not good for my spiritual condition.
(2) We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
I use my past now to help others and to see how much I have grown.
(4) No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
I used to think alcoholics lived under a bridge and drank whiskey all day. Since I was in college, holding down a good job, paying the rent, etc. it took me awhile to understand we come into the rooms with many different life circumstances. We do not have to loose everything to get sober. Nor do we have to go on to the end and end up dead from the disease. We have a choice.
(5) That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
This is true I hold my head up high now
(6) We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
I used to think donating clothes was service. Now I help out at kids school, help elderly neighbors, volunteer at church, work with other ladies in the rooms of AA. Now I am of service to others not just myself.
(7) Self-seeking will slip away.
Once in awhile it will creep in and I know I need to go back to a step. Most days I am focused on giving back.
(8) Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
This promise I didn’t get at first. How could my mindset go from one of how most of my weekends revolved around a party to learning about everything in a new way almost like that of a child. I found hobbies, started cooking more, reading, photography. I started enjoying life instead of being tied to alcohol. It was as if someone opened my eyes.
(9) Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
Fear of people I still have when I have to speak in new situations but then I remember who cares what they think of me and then I am fine. Economic insecurity-I never really knew how to manage money well I always spent more than I had. Now I give more away than I think I need to because it is my form of service, helping others and interestingly I always have plenty in the bank funny how that works.
(10) We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
LOVE this one! If I mess up I own it, if I need to set a boundary I do, I am a grown up now.
(11) We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Absolutely! Now it is my job to “give it away as it was given to me”
(12) Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
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