#1 from room 5 McLean @ Fernside
The gifts that sobriety have brought into my life are too many to count. So many that I feel the need to document them here on this blog. I just returned from an AA meeting where I was blessed enough to be called on to share. The meeting was a step study on Step One - "We admitted that our we are powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable". I said that my life is definitely unmanageable when I drink. That I have had 3 DUIs. I have just gotten my license back in 2010 for crying out loud. I said that alcohol lowers my inhibitions to the point where I go hunting for other substances! :( I hate drugs and alcohol. I heard from quite a few people today. We had laughs and more serious people talked. This is what I love about AA..it's real. I feel at home there. Laughter and joy, sorrow and sadness. Anxiety and peace... all of it is there. Most of all the idea of LOVE AND TOLERANCE is in the rooms where it is not so outside of the rooms. Not in the world and often not for some in their own homes. In mine we have a lot of love and tolerance, Thanks be to God. My Mother and Father worked very hard at this and therefore my sisters and my Dad and I continue to carry this to my nephews and niece today on my Mother's behalf. But for many others in the AA rooms and halls, this kind of blessing and gift just isn't so. For this reason, AA meetings are an hour of loving togetherness, that perhaps, people long for on a daily basis. I love it. I feel less anxiety ridden in a meeting and much much more like I am getting closer to the truth and peace every hour I choose to sit in one.

Thank you for letting me share. I am Shanon, I am a grateful for today!!! :)