Sobriety – I want to discuss today why sobriety needs to be and must be one day at a time. It is imperative that we not only grasp the understanding of one day at a time, but we need to embrace it as the most important concept next to step number one where we admit that we are powerless.
When I first came to alcoholics anonymous the most important thing that I was taught was one day at a time. For a person who lived for the moment you would think that the concept of one day at a time would be easily understood.
That is where the importance of meetings, sharing with others, talking to your sponsor, and reading recovery material comes into play. The next most important thing is to understand that time is going to be our best friend when it comes to embracing and learning to love the concept of one day at a time. We certainly didn’t get here overnight and we’re not going to understand certain things over night.
Those addicted are notorious for projecting to the next day and so on. I believe that this is because our reality is so depressing that staying in the day only serves to make us feel worse and of course we drink and use because of that. So we have this dilemma of sorts or some type of inner turmoil. If we don’t adopt one day at a time we get high because we’re losing sight of what we need to be focusing on or we use because the day sucks.
Sometimes, one day at a time even needs to be shortened. I remember when I was within my first 90 days of sobriety and I was having a very difficult day. I knew what I needed was to get to a meeting and talk to someone who would understand. I was about ten miles away from the Alano club where I knew a noon meeting was about to begin.
I figured it was going to take me approximately fifteen minutes to get to the Turning Point. I stopped for a moment and I prayed. I asked God if He would give me fifteen more minutes of sobriety. I told God that if He would do that for me that I promised to not drink the rest of the day. God gave me those fifteen minutes I needed and I fulfilled my promise and to this day, over 11,374 days later, I do not drink or use one day at a time.
Most people who have admitted defeat to alcohol and drugs bring with them a very damaged life. Living in the now and in the moment, reminds us of how bad off we have become. Having said that, we want to project to tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. Because today is so painful, we want to think terms of one week, one month or even project out one year. That is dangerous thinking that it has gotten more people to relapse than any outside pressure I can think of.
Robert Pardon
Robert is the Recovery Guy. Getting clean and sober on April 25, 1986 has given me the insight and practical skill set to not only stay sober, but to also re-invent myself to the person I always wanted to become. Showing others how to do this is my life goal.
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