You are not alone
My realization from my own AA bumper sticker
“We can be alone at perfect peace and ease.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 75
We learn we are never alone in the program. However, we will still spend a lot of time by ourselves. I am by myself a lot since my son has grown up. I am alone when I drive my car, sit in a doctor’s waiting room, set up the early morning meeting at the club, sit in my classroom after school ends. We spend a lot of time alone in life. But we are never alone. And we have the realization that we are never alone when we work our steps.
I used to have a recovery bumper sticker on my car that said “You Are Not Alone.” I liked to share this reminder with the world around me as I was driving. We have a God who is always looking out for us, who loves us, cares for us, and takes an active interest in our everyday lives. He is a companion. In fact, he sits in the car with me, waits at the doctor’s office with me, and sits in the front seat in my classroom.
The funny thing about my disease is that it wants to make me feel like I am all alone. I can fall into the black hole of this stinking thinking from time to time. When this happens, I do more meetings, more phone calls, and more praying. I may not come out of the hole immediately, but eventually I experience being a “part of” once more. I experience my God’s presence. It turns out the person who needed to see the bumper sticker on the back of the car was me: You are not alone.
Today’s Prayer
God, I have this insidious disease that wants me to believe I am all alone in this life. Let me take the right actions today to prove my disease wrong. Help me change my thinking through right action, Higher Power.
This excerpt is the October 12 daily reading from my book, With Gratitude: A Journey in Recovery by Jamey M. that is available as a paperback or Kindle book on Amazon.