Recovery one day at a time

Another year has passed. I got to have another year. 30 years in recovery. Today.

A dear friend asked me how I was celebrating this today.

And I will tell you.

I´ve spent the day with the most important person in my life, someone I love and respect a lot; Me. Doing things I enjoy doing, which includes hanging with my dogs, living and being exactly where I want to be in this world.

And then also preparing for the evening. Because on the evening of this day, September 15, I got to see one of my dreams and long time plans come to life; I started a treatment program for women who have the same disease as I do, that I refer to as AID (Addiction Interaction Disorder). It is a one year program, where the participants choose to participate 3 months at a time. So 4 modules, each of them for 3 months. And I am doing it with a fantastic team of women. By women for women. All over the world. This week we were in 2 time zones, next week we will expand that to 4. And of course I am doing this in my professional capacity as a clinical CBT therapist and addiction specialist.

It is an online program and we have a rolling intake, so anyone who by time wants to join, can. As long as they first have a SUGAR® assessment interview done, either by me or someone else who is certified and licensed to do so.

I´m not gonna get into my program a lot here, other than to say that for me, now being raised and trained in AA for the past 30 years, it is all about giving back. To fellow addicts and also to the society in general.

So to get to launch this program today, this very day, means so so much to me. Community is everything! It takes a village!

I am full. Of Gratitude. And as I just wrote that, along comes Awe. Grace. Wonder. All connected to the fact that I am still here, I am alive and very well.

Hope. Living in recovery of the disease of addiction is a daily gift. I live this life one day at a time. Practising the spiritual principles of this program of action, and good things – great things come to pass. And most of those aren´t even “things”. They are relational. About connection. To myself and to others. On levels I didn´t know existed before. Deeper and wider and fuller over time.

I love my life today. What I do for a living, where I live, the creatures I have in my life, who get my love and attention, some have 4 and some have 2 legs…

I love how I continue to learn and grow, through my endless curiosity. How I have and am sharpening my work skills as well as my life skills, for they are connected, yet separate. I walk my talk….

New friends, old friends. All sort of relationships. We are hard wired for connection. We ARE here to connect. It takes a village, this life. We need each other.

I. Need. You.

And I am so grateful for “knowing” this – in my heart (where the really important knowledge lives). I FEEL it! In every fibre of me.

So many lessons. So much learning. Through so many people. In so many rooms just like that first one, on September 15 1993. In so many countries.

They are all my family. There is trust, there is love, there is support, there is experience, there is hope, there is belonging, there is vulnerability, there is gratitude, there is sharing. In my family.

I love you all. Those who walked before me, those who walk beside me, those who will walk after me.

I owe you everything. I owe you my life.

I have peace. I have serenity.

This is me.