Thoughts on Recovery – No. 5 – Do I Have the Power to Choose Not to Drink Today?

I would ask the group at meetings “Who has the power of choice, today, not to drink?”.  People would look around at each other and raise their hands, tentatively.  The answer, for me, is I am a real alcoholic.  I have lost the power of choice to drink.  I can never recover the power of choice.  So, why have I been able to stay sober?

Mark H. said it best – “Each day, I make the choice to seek the power which gives me choice.  I have no power on my own.”  It is through the spiritual exercises of the Steps, that I establish a relationship with the power and that relationship gives me the choice each day.  Remember, we deal with alcohol – cunning, baffling, powerful!  Without help, it is too much for us.  But, there is one who has all power, that is God.  May you find him now!  No human power can relieve my alcoholism.  God can, and will, if I seek him.

So, the question each day is, what am I doing to seek a relationship with my Higher Power?  Did I pray and meditate in the morning, am I taking inventory throughout the day and reviewing at night?  Did I practice love and tolerance?  Am I thinking of what I can do for others?  Do I carry a vision of God’s will in all of my activities?  Take some time to think about what you are doing on a daily basis to seek and establish your relationship with God.