Topic: A New Freedom and a New Happiness
I love the Promises because they help to remind me why I work the AA program and make a daily decision to not drink or do any mind- or mood-altering substances. Even after many 24 hours in AA, they still give me hope, they still lift me up when I’m feeling uneasy or sad, and they still illustrate to me the amazing amount of love and compassion that is inherent in the AA program.
I can’t say with any certainty why this statement is at the beginning of the Promises, but in my opinion it’s there because, having given up alcohol for this 24 hours, we need to know we can live another way, i.e., sober, and actually be happy living that way. Freedom and happiness – wow! I didn’t really know either when I was drinking and using drugs. I thought I knew what those things were, but in fact freedom meant only being able to do what I want, and happiness, always only fleeting, was usually only found in a bottle, drug, or person.
In sobriety, my new freedom is the freedom of choice regarding what I’ll do or not do, how I’ll act or react, what I’ll do with my time and money, how I’ll think about a situation, and so much more. These are freedoms I didn’t know I had before, or just didn’t know how to utilize in order to improve my life.
My new happiness is a happiness that’s always with me because it’s part of me now, not something exterior that can come and go, be given or taken away. This isn’t to say I’m always happy – I’m not. I still get angry, annoyed, resentful, and/or sad, but the difference is that now (1) I have constructive ways to process these feelings, and (2) I can always find something that makes me happy, often very simple things. These days, silly cat videos are a good source, but even just hearing a child laughing, or seeing a butterfly flying past me, or remembering a great time I had with family or friends is enough to remind me that happiness is a constant and I can tap into it whenever I need to.
Please share on what you see as your new freedom and new happiness in sobriety, or anything else that’s important to you in your sobriety today. Thanks for letting me share.