I get another day

One of the gifts of living a life in recovery is the knowing that I get to live today. There were many times in active addiction where I truly wasn't sure if tomorrow would come. 

I remember a time when I was laying on a futon, crack pipe in hand and not believing I would ever be able put down that pipe, wishing just one more hit would make my heart give up and I would die. There were many times during my use of meth that after being up for days on end, and than crashing for several, coming to and thinking I just could not live anymore and hoping for my life to end. During my heavy drinking days I would get so drunk that I would put myself behind the wheel of a car and could easily have killed others or myself. The endless stories of how I could easily have died could go on and on. Yet, here I am alive and typing this blog with nearly 16 years of day after day in recovery.

I get to live today. Are all days great; certainly not. Are all days full of joy and wonder; far from the truth. We learn in recovery that each day we are given is a gift that we once thought was a burden to have to wake up a live another day.

On this morning as I sit in my office with my dog Johnny by my side. I have an amazing wife resting in our bedroom with our little dog Daisy. My son is at his home not far away with his girlfriend and our two grandsons. We were all together just yesterday evening enjoying dinner together.  I have a family today I would never have believed true not so long ago. Each day I get to be a part of this is a gift for sure.

I get to experience another day alive today and for that I am forever grateful.  For it wasn't so long ago this idea of "getting to live" was more a burden with a true hope that I would just die and not have to experience one more day of pain and anguish in active addiction. 

Recovery works, lives change