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Showing posts from June 19, 2011

Father's Day Pulls A Fast One

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Yesterday was Father’s Day; a holiday conceived by marketing vultures, a faux holiday I’ve viewed with cynicism for years. But as I sat in a recovery meeting yesterday, my attitude made a shift, as my attitudes often change when I stop admiring myself.   At this meeting, there was a lot of sharing about fathers and fatherhood, and I began to think about my journey. This was my revelation: In February 1985, denial about my alcoholism, which had been my stealthy companion for over a decade, quite suddenly slipped away forever. I admitted my powerlessness over alcohol and began to attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. People there told stories about recovery and how belief in a power greater than themselves was the second step to sobriety and a better life. I put my skepticism on the shelf and tried on the concept of “god” and “higher power”;  this was mildly uncomfortable, but the founders of  AA, knowing how prideful we alcoholics are, gave us a lot of wiggle room regarding this rela