Life is so interesting...

I have been thinking a lot lately. We gave ourselves a huge party on Saturday, four of us, to celebrate 20 years of sobriety. Now, to get sober at all is a miracle for any alcoholic, but to stay sober is something else. In my 20 years, I have seen people with double-digit sobriety drink again. Some of them came back to report it wasn't any better, but some of them died, too. Anyway, I was struck by the fact that, at out little party with about 200 people, I knew intimate details of their lives, but didn't know many of their last names, or their occupations, for that matter. Many of us had violent or abusive homes when growing up. Many did not. Isn't that interesting? Yet, we all wound up sitting on folding chairs in some church basement, drinking diesel fuel coffee and eating Oreos, laughing our butts off at each other's antics while in our cups. Odd way to spend a summer evening, or a winter one. Yet those of us who have successfully kept the genie in the bottle are the ones you will see there, week after week, sad, happy, and sometimes, just plain nuts. Showing up, that's the key. Bring the body, the mind will follow. One day at a time. So, circumstances be what they may, we are only victims if we decide to be. Learning that life is what happens between my ears, now that's grace.