Written By: Cathy Shuba
"Happy Sunday!"
What is a New Year? Is it new resolutions, ideas, beliefs, expectations of oneself or of others? Is it changing the shape of your body, your mind, your spirit? Is it about changes you want to make within yourself or is it of changing others? Is it being aware of your actions, words and motives? Is it about asking for help? Is it a New Year?
When I drank a New Year meant getting drunk, staying out all night and sometimes the days before or after! A New Year meant starting over and hoping all that I said or done would magically disappear. A New Year meant to try to change even though I had no idea how to. A New Year meant to try to control more of me, my drinking, what I said and done and even with others only to gain their approval and love. A New Year meant to manipulate my needs, wants and gains without letting other people know exactly what my real motives were behind them. A New Year meant to promise things to others just for them to stop telling me how to live and act. A New year to me was Not a New Year when I was drinking it was called the New Insanity Year. I kept doing what I always did and kept getting what I always got!
I chose to get sober in April of 1993. April 3, 1993 was my New Year and many more to follow in that year! You ask, “What I am talking about?” I will explain as I always do,…LOL! When I became sober and I realized how much work, it was to stay sober not to mention working on my own issues as well, I had a spiritual awakening that first New Year sober and I have never gone back. My spiritual awakening was the realization that whenever one experiences a new change, a forever change in their life that is when one has a New Year! I guess you can say I have had many New Years in one Year! From that spiritual awakening, I looked at any major obstacle, challenge or change I had overcome as a New Year, a New Me! I no longer look at resolutions, new diets, new exercises, new anything that has to do with material things or vanity in one’s life as a New Year. When I see or hear of people who are planning to do such things in their life, I say a prayer for them. I pray that their life someday will be full of their truth that they neglect to see. I pray that their anger and resentment stemmed from their expectations will be resolved and understood. I pray that they have a spiritual awakening to life, freedom of things and vanity and encompass a life filled with acceptance, love, forgiveness, gratitude and more positive things that makes one life fulfilling and at peace. I pray for them!
My recovery has given me many New Years and hope to have many more. I still celebrate New Years Eve and New Years day with my family but it is not about changing me for the coming year and recognizing my gratitude from my past year. For me, it is about ALWAYS being willing to change and ALWAYS having gratitude in my life no matter what Holiday it is. I will ALWAYS be willing to CHANGE and MINDFUL of the GRATITUDE in my life on a daily basis! Hope my words will inspire you to feel the same way! I will end this post with a blessing that touched me in a way that will always hold true to my beliefs about the New Year! Many Blessings to all!
New Year Prayer
God grant us this year a wider view,
So we see others' faults through the eyes of You.
Teach us to judge not with hasty tongue,
Neither the adult ... nor the young.
Give us patience and grace to endure
And a stronger faith so we feel secure.
Instead of remembering, help us forget
The irritations that caused us to fret.
Freely forgiving for some offense
And finding each day a rich recompense.
In offering a friendly, helping hand
And trying in all ways to understand;
That all of us whoever we are ...
Are trying to reach an unreachable star.
For the great and small ... the good and bad,
The young and old ... the sad and glad
Are asking today; Is life worth living?
The answer is only in, loving and giving.
For only Love can make man kind
And Kindness of Heart brings Peace of Mind.
By giving love, we can start this year
To lift the clouds of hate and fear.
Helen Steiner Rice
Do you always set a new resolution for the coming year? Are you ever discouraged, mad or resentful at yourself when you realize you cannot keep it or rather struggle to keep it? Try to look at a New Year when YOU make a major change in your life or work through a major obstacle or challenge. Then you will have many New Years to celebrate!
Today, I will take a long run and think about how grateful I know that at any moment in my life I can experience a New Year!
Sobriety Fitness by Cathy Shuba is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.sobrietyfitness.com.
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