Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.

Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭15

What if we aren’t grateful?

In fact, what if all this gratitude junk really just pisses us off more?

Maybe we don’t want to figure out three things we are grateful for every evening. Maybe that kind of makes us sick to think about.

Well, you’re not alone if you fall into this camp. Sobriety and the rooms of recovery bring with it an optimism shared by many of its members that is uncomfortable at best and worrisome at worst.

The bad news is that it’s usually genuine despite our efforts at dismantling good intentions with our own bad attitudes.

And worse still, the good people in recovery are more patient than the newcomer.

The hostility of my crappy ego doesn’t stand a chance when out up against the love of people who care more for me than I do for myself.

Will I return to my addiction if I don’t adopt the sickening optimism that I see in recovery?

Not necessarily. There’s always the chance that I become a miserable dry drunk.

Here’s the thing—grateful people don’t return to the life and the substances that were killing them.

Grateful people gain a right perspective.

Grateful people can both see and live by the truth at the same time.

Grateful people can save ungrateful people just by living well.

It took me a while to come around, but living fully now includes loving deeply. And I don’t know how to do that without holding on to gratitude for life, for sobriety, for relationships and for God.

God, thank you for the blessings I used to roll my eyes at.