Day 67 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I celebrated 11 years of sobriety!
Holy fucking shit – how did that happen? In so many ways I feel like someone who is fairly new to the program, sitting in one of the “paranoid seats†at the clubhouse with my back to the wall. But when I think about it, I’ve come a long way from that scared, desperate, lost, nearly suicidal person I was 11 years ago.
So many things have happened since then – amazing joys and terrible sorrows – and I throughout all of it, I haven’t had to take a drink or a drug to manage my feelings.
I am so grateful for my Recovery Family who have trudged the road with me. This is absolutely a program of one addict helping another. I am especially grateful for my sponsor. I’ve been with him for over 6 years. He is the person I count on to tell me when things are fucked up and when I am seeing things as they are.
When I asked him to sponsor me, he told me one of the expectations was that I would call or email every day. I couldn’t believe it. How could he asked that of me? I was nearly 5 years sober. I didn’t need to check in every day. However, it’s over 6 years later and I still call or email just about every day, and I look forward to telling him about my day and how I’m feeling.
Something about this sobriety anniversary feels particularly special and surreal, maybe because so much has happened in the last year – new home, new job, and big personal developments. I find myself spinning my chip between my fingers with a big grin on my face.
I feel like I’ve come a long way, and I know there is much work to be done in the future. I’m looking forward to it.
In case you missed it: Day 66 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I’m wearing KT Tape to manage my leg pain so I can keep running.