January 1
Room for a Life
At first, wanting to stop drinking may occupy all the room we have. Getting through an evening sober is plenty to ask. Then, perhaps gradually, there is an evening when alcohol takes up less space. We have time on our hands, someone we might call, a meal we can actually taste. The relief can arrive with an unexpected question about what comes next.
There is no requirement to answer with a grand purpose. A life can begin returning through an interest we abandoned or a conversation we used to avoid. The Steps offer more than protection from another disaster; they help us participate in what sobriety makes possible. Being alive may begin to mean something beyond surviving ourselves. We can be grateful for the day without already knowing what the rest of our life will look like.
What part of living am I beginning to have room for?
There is time to get acquainted with this life.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Twelve, pp. 106–107.