Early wake up feeling fresh and ready for the day.

Busy morning in the house with one of the fellows preparing to leave for their flight home.  We dropped this fellow off at the airport and said our heartfelt goodbyes.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the company of this fellow for the past week, and I will miss their bouncy energy in the home and belly laughing whit.  It was touching knowing that I will always have this fellow in my life and this is not a goodbye as they will hopefully visit again soon.  I am thankful and grateful for this fellow’s company and their help around the house and lovely cooking.

Then there were two!

The weather has been amazing today, so on the way back home, my fellow decided they wanted to go for a walk along the canal.  After a busy week so far, I was planning on having a relaxing day before my home meeting this evening, but with very little convincing of myself, I decided to join this fellow and go out on the water in my Kayak.

Our original plan was to go the distance for about an hour, as it would take an hour to also get back.  But one hour in, we decided to continue on, and then continue on again right into the city centre to the end of the canal basin.  This resulted in a three-hour trip, of my fellow walking and myself kayaking.  My fellow took many photos of me as the scenery was gorgeous. It felt good to get this level of exercise in, especially when I would hit the parts where reeds have built up and the wind was oncoming.  Although I will feel this tomorrow.

Once we had reached the end of the canal at the city centre, I realised that I would not get an opportunity for a crazy photo, that I have wanted to take, for a long time.  So, I convinced my fellow to walk with me and the still-inflated Kyak into a busy part of the city centre, put the inflated Kyak on a busy pavement, and take a picture of me in it, with people, traffic and a bus behind me.  My fellow couldn’t believe that I wanted to do this, but I am just as spontaneous in sobriety as I was in active addiction.  Just that this time, I can do these things with better judgement and without consequences, whilst also creating memories that I will actually remember.

This evening I took my fellow to my homegroup, which they also shared and seemed to feel comfortable.  The share was on newcomers.  I feel I am still a newcomer myself, so I felt I could not share much besides the understanding and belief that – you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  In my recovery so far, there have been a few people, who I would consider having an issue with alcohol, and I have mentioned coming to AA with me, but they have not been interested.  Although they have given me their praise for sticking to my recovery.  This made me think about step 1, and how if they don’t admit that they have a problem and that their life is unmanageable, they are like that horse to water.  A newcomer to the AA must be willing to do step one before they can recover from the programme.

As per my Thursday evening tradition of a meal cheat day, we got a takeaway on the way home.

Now to have an early night!

Every day I must accept I am an alcoholic, keep busy and create memories

Gratitude:
I am grateful for the company, cooked meals and fun my fellow has given me this past week
I am grateful for having a fellowship to help me in sobriety
I am grateful for my home group making my fellow guest feel welcome
I am grateful for the good weather and the walk/exercise today with my fellow company
I am grateful for another day sober