The journey is the reward. - Chinese Proverb

As a group of addicts, we strive for sobriety. As individual addicts, we define sobriety uniquely. An act that may be a slip into the inner circle for some could be completely acceptable behavior for another. Similarly, each of us looks at sobriety in a different way. Some of us see sobriety as a goal, a destination to be reached where all things in our lives finally fall correctly into place, a place that upon arrival, we become “normal”. We vigorously count the days of sobriety we have achieved. Each chip we earn becomes the most important piece of our recovery. We do not focus on what the will of our Higher Power may be for us, we choose instead to focus on self will. And then we are amazed at the collection of 30 and 60 chips we accumulate. We celebrate the birthdays and the many years of sobriety that “old-timers” bring to our group, and we wonder what it is that they have and how do we get it? In 1952, a co-founder of AA added a short sentence to the Serenity Prayer: G-d, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done. (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions – Step Three). The celebration of days of sobriety is a very important piece of an addict’s program. It just is not the most important piece. If we live our life in a manner of our Higher Power’s choosing, following his will, anniversary dates will become milestones on our journey in a life of sobriety, not the destination point.

The first step on my journey included the realization that sobriety was not the destination. It is the path.