NOBODY SAID THAT IT WOULD BE EASY - BUT NOBODY SAID THAT IT WOULD BE THIS HARD

I woke up with these two lines in my head this morning — two lines from a Cheryl Crow song and the only two lines I remember. At first it might stroke you as pessimistic ….  perhaps it is, but in reality it applies to our life then and in the future — SOBRIETY.

But — back to basics — let’s keep things simple. We had 21 days to delve deep and find our true selves again — well, a great part of our true selves in most cases.

SOBRIETY 

To us it means freedom. Freedom from this self-imposed drug prison. We can now enjoy our lives honestly — and we can be proud that we took the first step to recovery. Slowly we are learning again how to love ourselves — our sober selves.

Sobriety means the importance of boundaries, to say what we mean and mean what we say. To make sure we are safe from people and places that in the past only caused us hurt. Sobriety means finding balance, igniting that inner-spark we have neglected for so long — we are ready to live life to the fullest — with our families, with our children, with our TRUE FRIENDS.

We do this while continuously remember, reminding ourselves, to hold on to WHO we are! Being addicted DOES NOT DEFINE US!!! 21 days is not a quick fix. There is a long, wonderful  journey ahead of us and for us to be able to cling to our sobriety step-by-step; day-by-day; even sometimes minute-by-minute.

And why not? We can once again feel On Top OF The world, be healthy, have energy, work on loving and become fully  aware of how we are growing stronger every day. We are regaining confidence and embracing this beautiful, hard thing that is life.

Being human is incredibly hard and not something that can be mastered in one life time (Terry Prachet). Saying this does not mean all is lost — after all, we only have one human life time. We need to hold on to our beliefs, turn to our spirituality, our religion, our God — and forever keep the flame of our hope alive.

We must know that even after the storm is over to readjust our sails and keep our dreams alive — Never Stop Sailing! Sobriety means holding on to the power of our thoughts, steering it continuously to the good — being okay and dealing with the bad and working through it rationally.

We’ll be saving money. Hooha! We will be safe, knowing that we are in control of our behavior — and if all else fail, we know that we have the love and support we need — it is there for us — we need only to ask! 

Sobriety — it is a journey and very possible if we hold on to that which makes us feel alive naturally!

        

 SOBRIETY — CHOOSE IT — BECAUSE YOU DO MATTER

  (A group from Elmari van der Walt — compiled by Yvonne Thiebaut)