Joy?
I heard someone say recently, “Joy isn’t the lack of fear and awful circumstances—It’s how you go through them."
Failure is necessary.
It brings experience, more knowledge, and growth. I thought I was a failure admitting I was an alcoholic. The failure part was in not admitting I had a problem all those years. That was my experience when I finally got sober.
Then, I began to figure out that I could live this live without alcohol. That was knowledge I didn’t have after years of failing to stop drinking.
That was growth.
Someone who survives failure—gotten to the bottom, the end of drinking—and takes alcohol out of the equation, is a success in doing just that. More importantly, we learn the unstoppable perseverance that comes from overcoming hardship. We may still suffer disappointments in our sober lives going forward, but we keep going through it. Sober this time.
We are taught from a young age that failing is bad and something to fear.
You can only be a failure if you give up.
I love the game of golf. It is a fun game and holds many life lessons. One annoying fact for me is that a 200-yard drive is equal to a 2-inch putt in stroke value. I want the good score. Knocking off strokes on the scorecard is the goal to a lower score. Yet, I can still have a good time even if I don’t score well. That is the biggest life-lesson in golf. It can still be fun, even if I am not very good at it. I learned not to give up—to keep showing up—go on to the next hole.
That’s what keeps me playing. My success at golf happens before I even get on the golf course. It starts with my attitude. It’s my frame of mind before I tee off my very first drive. “I am going to have fun today, no matter how I score.” I have already won.
Failure is inevitable in golf (and life.) Terrible drive, not-so-good fairway, goofed-up chip shots and 3-put into the hole. Bad hole. New hole coming up. Clean slate. One-hole-at-a-time.
Success is staying in the journey, one-shot-at-a-time (not my scorecard result)
This is how I view my sobriety. My life can be good and fun, even if I have messed it up before this. I am learning to stay in the game, Sober. One-day-at-a-time.
Attitude. Start the day grateful, “Thank you, God for another day of sobriety. Help me to stay in service and gratitude, no matter what happens.”
Sober.
Grateful.
One-day-at-a-time.
“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:31
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