Out of the mouths of babes

I'm often amazed by what comes out of the mouths of newcomers, or people relatively "young" in sobriety. My favorite cakes are 1 year cakes. At one year, when people have acutally made this seemingly impossible milestone, they are in the process of making it work, one day at a time. They haven't deluded themselves about how easy (or how hard) it is. They are in it! 

Here is a letter written by K that I found on the google group "atheist-AA".  I love that group.  Thanks K, for letting me post it.

Today I met my ex sponsor, Barbara, for a coffee. She's taking an
extended break from AA. She said she was tired of listening to all the
whining and that, since she left, she's been feeling really happy and
free and that her sobriety is still fantastic. I could see there was a
positive change in her. There was less heaviness there.
 
I, on the other hand, have become increasingly involved in AA over the
last ten months and have taken on a secretarial service position at a
monday night meeting that clashes with a poetry evening I used to
attend religiously. It was incredibly important to me in that I got to
mix with other poets and also because every night when I came home
from a reading, I wrote, which for me, in my new sober, happy state,
has been a rare occurrence. Above everything, I am a poet so
understand how crucial that was to me.
 
I have found myself increasingly mixing with more and more AA people
and less and less 'normals.' Tonight I had the opportunity to go to a
poetry event with some people I know from my Monday night poetry crowd
and we went to a cafe overlooking the harbour afterwards to talk until
late into the night. The reading was astonishing. It was by two South
African poetry legends who have an amazing history both politically
and poetically. They did a tribute to yet another South African poetry
legend who committed suicide in the 60s.
 
I had the most fantastic evening and realised that through my almost
obsessive involvement in AA and 'self improvement' I have forgotten
who I really am. I am more than an alcoholic and life is about more
than constant self improvement and sobriety. It needs to be, it must
be, it simply has to be. Now, as I look back on the day I think about
Barbara and about myself and realise that a change needs to happen. I
owe it to myself to take this improved person out into the world and
enjoy life, passions, friends who don't talk constantly about alcohol,
AA meetings and steps. AA needs to be something I retreat to, rely on,
seek strength from, but ultimately, my life needs to be primarily
about other things.
 
Perhaps it can all be summed up this way: I got my first pair of
glasses four months ago which improved my vision dramatically.
Tonight, when we reached the car to drive home, I looked up at the
night sky and realised that I was looking at the stars for the very
first time with my new glasses on. It seemed as if I could pluck them
right out of the sky. It was unbelievable. And equally unbelievable
that, for the last four months, I have not looked up at a night sky
once.

Enjoy those new glasses K!