13,515 Days

Reflection

I remember August 9, 1987 (13,515 days ago) like yesterday.

I came home from work and walked into my living room, and there sat an intervention in the form of my wife, brother, boss, and a recovering alcoholic and addict named Rusty.

That moment was a major turning point in my life and forever changed my future.

At the root of any addiction is a thinking problem, and our thoughts come from our beliefs.

Change your beliefs, and you will change your life.

Since this is the day I celebrate 37 years of sobriety, I thought I would share a list of 37 sayings representing some of my core beliefs.

Sayings and Truths for Living Sober and In Peace:

1. My sobriety (peacefulness) is contingent upon my spiritual condition, which is contingent upon my belief and trust in a power greater than myself (for me, that power is Jesus).
2. If I’m not the problem, there is no solution when I’m not at peace with something going on in my life.
3. Today’s challenges serve as growth for tomorrow.
4. My mind is like a bad neighborhood; I shouldn’t go there alone…especially when angry.
5. Courage is fear that’s been prayed for.
6. You can’t keep what you have unless you give it away.
7. They say misery loves company; so does peace.
8. I am at the center of my restlessness and discontent. The world around me doesn’t steal my peace when God is at my center.
9. Anger and resentment cause more relapses into old thinking than any other emotion.
10. Being a SNIOP indicates to the world how self-centered and insecure I am. SNIOP = Sensitive to the Negative Input of Other People.
11. It’s OK to look back, but don’t stare.
12. Serenity is not the absence of conflict but the ability to not let conflict steal my peace.
13. Our minds are like parachutes; they only function effectively when open.
14. We are only as sick as our secrets.
15. This, too, shall pass.
16. How important is it?
17. You can’t live one way and pray another.
18. You can’t believe in God and play God at the same time.
19. Gratitude conquers all negative emotions every day of the week.
20. Stay away from HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired).
21. Hang around with the winners.
22. You eat an elephant one bite at a time.
23. Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward. (Kierkegaard)
24. This is a ‘One Day at a Time’ program. You are tied for first place in AA if you are clean and sober today.
25. If drinking or drugging is interfering with your work, you’re probably a heavy addict or drinker. Conversely, if work interferes with your drinking or drugging, you’re probably an alcoholic and/or addict.
26. If God were small enough to be understood, He wouldn’t be big enough to be God.
27. I would rather go through life sober, believing I am an alcoholic, than go through life drunk, trying to convince myself that I am not an alcoholic.
28. Resentments are like stray cats: if you don’t feed them, they’ll disappear.
29. Step One: There’s a problem
    Step Two: There’s a solution
    Step Three: I get to choose which I want…problem? or solution?
    ~Father Martin~
30. If God seems far away, who moved?
31. The road to sobriety is a simple journey for confused people with a complicated disease.
32. Don’t ever be ashamed of your story. It may save someone’s life someday.
33. Be who you say you are.
34. Embrace the journey because the journey is the destination.
35. When unable to untangle your thoughts, go for a walk in nature.
36. Recovery is the greatest gift I ever gave myself.
37. Recovery is the greatest gift I ever gave to my family.

Thanks to my friends and family, especially my wife Lori, for getting me to this day…Nothing great in life happens by doing it alone.

John 8:32, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”…Amen, and Thank You, Jesus!

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com