YEAR OF SEVERE FEAR

FEAR

NOTE: The year 1974 was my first year 
sober after 25 years of heavy drinking.

It is the month I remember and identify as "near my year of severe fear"...it is impossible for someone (non-alcoholic) to understand the combination of physical compulsion and mental obsession and moral degradation which encompasses the life of a practicing alcoholic, read: drunken sot.  Our Big Book calls it "Pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization".

The fear then, the loss of all hope, the barren wasteland of soul which I experienced during early March of 1974--the utter abandonment of family, friends, co-workers, and yes even God, was without any expectation that life might one day look a little better than hell itself.

But my greater fear was "How will I live?", now that I had decided never to drink another drop of alcohol...ever, forever, one day at a time.

Fear knocked on the door, faith answered and there was no one there!

Just as darkness is not something, neither is fear. Darkness is only the lack of light. You can not put darkness into a lighted area and make the light go away because darkness does not exist. Light, however, can be put in a dark area and the darkness goes away because the light does exist. 

One is a thing and the other is a no thing. One cannot put fear in a place of faith and make faith go away. One CAN put faith in a place of fear and make fear go away.

Fear was ME!  Faith (and Hope) was ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS!

All week please celebrate with me in Gratitude my sobriety date 
Thursday, when I had my last drink of alcohol, a long time ago.

And we and I stay SOBER--today.
And we and I live in PEACE--today.
And we and I LOVE someone today.

Photo at DeviantArt, click HERE