Remembering where you came from

[varkam]

It's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, I think. Getting wrapped up in the present, in the struggles of the moment, is something very human. Sometimes I seem to believe that I shouldn't be able to make mistakes anymore because I'm in recovery now, and I must be perfect -- despite the fact that I will never be perfect as to err is human.

The other day, someone very close to me who knows all about my past and my problems, asked me if I thought it has gotten any easier. The question threw me off balance because I don't think I'd ever really considered it. I'd been trying to take things one day at a time and as a result had forgotten to consider the past...even if briefly. I thought about it and had a realization - that things are easier. They are better.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the only way I've found that this program works is in the moment, but I think we should all remember where we have come from if only to remind us how much better things are today.

:pals: Hope everyone here is well.

[NMDemDist2]

1. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence

to these principles. We are not saints.

The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

:hug:

[Kajsa]

2. That's one of my favorite quotes

from the Big Book, AZDem!

Thanks.;-)

:hug:

[Kajsa]

3. Varkam, remembering where I came from

gives me a good perspective on where I am today.

There are lots of things that could be much better in my life.

HOWEVER, compared to where I was before I got clean and sober, and
where I was headed ( death), I'll take this any day of the week.

Hell, people trust me to teach their children, to run their classrooms
when they are gone!

My whole life is built up around being sober.

Remember, for every one of us in recovery, there are nine brothers/sisters
still out there drinking and using.

I am grateful.

:pals:

[Justpat]

4. Things got worse for me before they got better.

But even in the early days of sobriety when my life was in such turmoil, I was still
gratefull to be sober and to have a chance at a having a life.

I knew by the time I got to the rooms that I had no options left. It was sobriety
or death.

So I got through the first two years by going to sometimes two meeting a day and
doing everything I was told to do.

Then, little by little, things started to get better.

And one of the blessings of my recovery so far is that I have retained a good
memory of what it was like back then. I have never forgotten where I came from.
It has kept me humble and grateful for my fellow travelers on the path.