D is for Denial

Denial which is the opposite of acceptance, kept me drinking and sick for a long time! years in fact. I didn't admit that I am an alcoholic until I was in treatment.

D is for Disease

Alcoholism is a disease. We must have daily acceptance and vigilance.

"We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33
Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different. My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must never forget what I am. Alcohol will surely kill me if I fail to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily basis. I am not playing a game in which a loss is a temporary setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which there is no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance."

From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

D is for Easy does it...but do it! I need to follow thought with action. My head can get busy with thoughts of all the things I have to do, but instead of sitting and contemplating them, I need to get up and do things one step at a time. First things first, do what is in front of you and the rest will follow.

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D is for Drive

I don't mean drive your car...I'm talking about having the drive to quit drinking, to choose recovery and to stay sober. You have to want to quit for yourself and have the drive and determination to work your program of sobriety.

D is for Disease. I suffer from the disease of addiction. I was at dis-ease within myself, and I looked for things outside of myself to make me feel better.

The only problem is that the disease is progressive, and when I wanted to stop, I could not. I always had to have more. Thanks to the 12 Step Programs I was not only able to quit, but stay quit, one day at a time. Just for today, I choose not to use drugs in any form. Alcohol is a drug. Food is a drug. Work can be a drug. I can be addicted to busy, so I don't have to look at myself.

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D is for Easy does it...but do it. We need not rush and get all hyper, we can take a deep breathe and just do what needs to be done, in a way that doesn't stress us. I can't, we can, be it our Higher Power or our best friend, our sponsor, or a complete stranger, who helps us do what needs to be done in the time it needs to get done. Easy does it doesn't mean to quit it and do it another day.

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D is for Dead

D - Drinking
E - Ends
A - All
D - Dreams

D is for Denial. Denial kept me sick. It almost killed me. I was glad that I found AA, and then was taken to ACoA. I identified with their literature so much. I think if I had gone there first, I would have died in my denial. It wasn't about others, it was about me and MY disease.

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D is for Divine Orderly Good. If I look for the goodness in someone, I can`t go to far wrong. Any one who has stayed sober in today is doing a good job. I look at it as the Dog>God Syndrome. Divine Order Good from a Group of Drunks and Drug Addicts, show me a new way to live.

Today I am a somebody, I am no longer a nobody.

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D is for Dry Drunk. A dry drunk is someone who doesn't work the Steps and apply them to their life. They become automatic and a way of life, and we have found a new way of life. A dry drunk is someone who has put the plug in the jug, but doesn't have a program. He/She doesn't change the old behaviors, patterns, and habits and continues to act out in his/her life. I am just a good old boy/girl, there is nothing wrong with me, I don't drink any more. I was at that place and received a very rude awakening. There is more to this recovery thing besides not drinking and drugging. They are but a symptom of my disease. My problem is me.

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D is for Day. Each Day is a new beginning. We don't drink, one day at a time. What ever you decide to do, don't drink or pick up a drug for this 24 hours. We put great emphasis on this, we stay clean and sober for one day, today.

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D is for Dear. Hold those who support you and don't let them get away. You will realize down the road, generally in hind sight, how much they dearly blessed your life. Hold them near and dear, even if they move out of your life, they had a lesson and gift to give you.

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D is for Declare. Tell people how you feel about them. Don't keep all that love to yourself. Pass on a smile, a hug, a kind word, hope and encouragement.

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D is for delight. We can take delight in our recovery. We have so many gifts to be grateful for. We can show our delight by saying thank you.

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D is for Denial. Thinking we are different than others and don't need to work the program the way other people do, has caused a great many people to relapse. We do recover from that hopeless state of mind and body that we had when we came into the rooms of recovery, but we do not stop being an alcoholic or an addict. We only have daily reprieve contingent on our spiritual not religious condition.

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