Hope, Faith & Courage
A Reading From Page 127 of the CA Story Book

I made it into this program because someone else worked their Twelfth Step on me. Someone passed it on to me. Someone was out there after they got clean and sober, caring about others. I need to never, ever forget that. Had they simply gone on with there lives and forgotten about people like me who were still out there using and suffering, I wouldn’t be here today. My gratitude begins with that fact. It is with that gratitude in mind that I reach out to others, especially the newcomer. I need to have them in my life. That is where my spiritually begins.

For me, spiritually comes from caring about others. I have found that the more I focus on improving the quality of the lives of others, the less I am into myself and my will. I have the freedom and peace from within. The gifts I am beginning to receive in my life are greater that I could ever have imagined.

Something else I have done is that I have forgiven myself. I have forgiven myself for being an addict. I have forgiven myself for all the damage I did to my life, to my physical health, and to my career and finances. But most of all, I have forgiven myself for all of the horrible, negative, and unloving things I have felt about myself. It was not until I offered and accepted my own forgiveness, that I was able to grow in my sobriety.