So many people pledge to start exercising, eat healthy, and lose weight – very common resolutions. Every single year for almost eight years I remember pledging that my New Year’s resolution would be to stop drinking and straighten out my life all by myself. I thought all I needed was to assert my willpower, and I would be able to stop, or at least slowdown and control my drinking and using. I was way off the mark thinking I could solve my addiction with strong willpower and a firm resolution. I couldn’t make it a month staying sober let alone a whole year on my own. And once I picked up the first drink, well, we all know how that goes. I didn’t know how my life was ever going to change.

I worked the steps and found that as a result of working them, I had a spiritual experience, and the obsession to drink and use was totally lifted! I found that I no longer had to continue making empty resolutions year after year with little to no success. I’ve been given a spiritual solution that allows me to live a life free from running on my own self-will, and gives me the freedom to focus on helping others!

Getting sober requires more than a resolution – it requires a decision to do the work necessary to recover. It requires action. This includes addressing addiction head-on by fully working the 12 Steps, including helping others. Without this decision, I would likely be dead. Today, I am not only sober, I am happy, joyous, and free. If this can happen for me, it can happen with you.