Mile Markers

If I get to bed tonight, I will have 90 days clean and sober.  This is a milestone in the recovery world… I will receive a coin to commemorate the event at my meeting tomorrow, and I will get lots of accolades from my comrades.

Since I am so close to a mile marker, I have spent some time reflecting on what has happened in the past 90 days.  And really, it is nothing short of a miracle.  In many ways, 3 months is not a very long period of time, and yet…

Three months ago I truly believed my life, as I knew it, was over.  Every single relationship in my life was in jeopardy.  My marriage, I believed, was over.  My home life, ruined.  The list goes on and on about what was wrong.  I really cannot overstate the depths of despair that I was in.  I felt that my addiction caused permanent, irreparable damage to every area of my life.

Fast forward to today… I start off the day, in my own home, with a warm hug and a waiting cup of coffee from my husband.  I have the privilege of getting my children ready for, and taking them to, school.  I spend a little time getting prepared for a big family party, then head down to my regular 12-step meeting.  I walk into the meeting, a little early, and am greeted with yells from across the room, calling me by name.  People stop to ask me specific questions about my life, and genuinely want to hear my response.  When I tell people about how good my life is, they are ecstatic, because they clearly remember how sad I was when they first met me 90 days ago.  And that was just the morning!

The miracles are too numerous to count.  If all this can happen in 90 days, imagine what will happen 6 months, or a year?