Good morning to all of you sober humans!
It is a chilly Saturday morning in Wisconsin and I am up early to practice my gratitude writing with you.
I am grateful to be sober. My life is not perfect and I still have a lot to learn and some goals to achieve in how I handle frustration, but I am finding my way. One day at a time and able to actually make progress because I no longer poison myself every day.
I’m grateful to be in pretty good health. I can do most physical tasks that I wish to do. I swim and walk and work long days without pain or other health obstacles. My mental health is better than it has been most of my life and I am grateful for that.
I’m grateful that there are a few days off from work coming up this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m grateful that I do not have to travel and that my brother is coming to visit all the Wisconsin family.
I’m grateful for the work that I gave in the coming months in my classroom. I’m slowly beginning to truly consider my work from a different perspective than I have in the past. I’ve been reading a lot of Buddhist writing lately and I’m looking to apply more thoughtful responses in my interactions with colleagues and students instead of my pretty quick rise to frustration. Taming that fight or flight response in regards to my work is a good challenge for me to work on before I retire in a couple of years. Can I remain patient when it is difficult for me?
I’m grateful to be getting closer to that retirement each month. I’m not unhappy or racing to get there, but it is very comforting to have a plan for myself and see the steps to make my way there. Simple living has been a key to this project, and simple living is serving me well.
I’m grateful to be in a loving marriage. The hubby is almost 3 years sober and is almost a year out from the loss of his mother. Being present with him in this journey has been a blessing and a challenge as he wrestles with some childhood trauma, some realizations about his history, and his constant effort to get to peace. We have different trauma histories, but we also have a lot in common, so watching and learning alongside him is good for my soul. He is actively working in some Buddhist practices in his daily life and I get to learn how it works for him.
Im grateful to have the resources to care for myself and my family. I feel some guilt about all that is happening around my immigrant students and I have fear about the coming months and how it will impact our classrooms and communities. So while I am not much of a praying person, I am doing my best to stay grounded and strong for what may come for them.
I’m grateful for the early morning quiet that is my daily routine in sobriety. Waking up without a hangover or the anxiety of trying to figure out what happened the night before and how I have to get equipped for the day is something I appreciate every morning.
I’m grateful for the supports and information that I have found in this community and I hope that anyone who wishes to find peace and safety and relief from addiction can find their way to this. Without shouting my story from rooftops, I try to be open in my relationships with others that recovery work is amazing and wonderful and that anyone who is struggling deserves to get the support they need. I hope this can help others as other people helped me.
I wish you all a day of peace. 
life isn’t fair sometime…
I’m grateful for my day at the beach.
So sorry to hear about your panic attacks but grateful you have tools to help you with them. 
Waking up early and getting some coffee time with my folks
I’m grateful we got drizzly rain almost all day yesterday.
- Glad your throat is feeling better