E is for Eating.

I am thankful that I have food to eat. I try to eat healthy food. My food budget is not large so I get stuff that is on sale, buy store brand most of the time to save money. Be careful because some store brand products are crap. Some don't have food in the cupboard and the fridge...so I am thankful that I am not starving.

F is for friends

I am so thankful for all of my friends who support me on my sobriety journey. I couldn't do it without you!

G is Glad. I am glad to have this site to come to each day, even if I am late. I am glad of the support here and the people I have met too.

It gladdens the heart to know you are not alone. Glad you are here too. Without you, there is no me.

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H is for H.O.W. How the program works, honesty, open mindedness, and willingness.

Unless I could get honest with me, I couldn't stay clean. If I didn't open my mind to new things, my best thinking got me to the doors of recovery. I had to be willing to go to any length to stay clean and sober. Using was not an option. I had to get honest and accept the fact that for me, to use is to die.

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I is for Identify your triggers.

I am thankful that I have the tools of recovery to use to identify the triggers I have and have methods to deflect them and keep me from taking that first drink.

J is for Just for Today!

Just for today (and every day), I am thankful to be alive and sober!

K is for Kit. There are recovery tools that I need to pack in my kit bag to take with me throughout the day. The song is old, from WWI, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag.... We have freedom of choice. It is up to us as to whether we pick up those troubles from yesterday or you can let them go. If they want to follow you, give them a kick back into yesterday, and live in today.

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L is for Learn. I am thankful that I am continuing to learn new tools of recovery each day. I am thankful that I learn in AA meetings if I keep an open heart and mind as I listen as others share their experience, strength, and hope.

M is for More. My drug of choice was more, so I had to change my attitude and my way of thinking. I had to think, "Call your sponsor more often. Go to meetings more often. Pray more, remember your God answers knee-mail.|

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N is for Near.

I am thankful that there is a weekly AA meeting near me. The meeting is at the hospital in town which is only 3 blocks from my house. If there wasn't a meeting here in town, I would have to drive to Grand Forks (approx. 40 miles) or Fargo (approx. 60 miles) to get to a meeting.

O is for Opinions. Everyone one has one, and they have a right to express them, but they don't have a right to project and try to change my opinion to match theirs. We have to find our own program. I found a took a little from this one, some from that one, a lot from that one, and none from that one. I was told that I would learn two things at meetings. How to work my program and how not to work my program.

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P is for positivity

I am thankful that I am a man with a positive attitude. When I went into treatment, my world was all negative. A black cloud hung over my head, Now I put a positive twist on everything. I am blessed because I have this positivity and an attitude of gratitude to go with it.

Q is for Quiet. Quiet your mind, let go of the internal chatting and the debating society and in the stillness, say the Serenity Prayer. When we quiet our mind, we can be open to the Good Orderly Direction we need each day.

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R is for Replaced

I am thankful that I Replaced my old drinking buddies with new AA buddies.

S is for Stay away

I am thankful that I stay away from that first drink. I take the First Step each day:
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.