Cold Winter Days, Hot Sober Nights!

Jan 2... well 3rd cuz I got home after midnight?? Anyway..

Hey everyone! Thanks again to everyone who has tuned in, as well as those who are following or commenting on the page. You don't know how much reader feedback encourages me & reinforces daily that I am doing the right thing with my life.

So I was thinking about how darn cold it is outside today & tonight. The wind is ripping and pushing my car around on the way home from the Casino with friends. The thought came to mind that I would never be out doing something fun before if it were like this outside. I was so socially bankrupt that I would not even get out of bed unless I had a dealer to meet, then it was right back home. Not only would I not be out doing something fun, I had no real friend's at the time that would say "hey we got some money to blow at the Casino, come pick us up and we can go have some fun for a few hours." The presence of real & amazing friends is apparent in my life today. I am learning how to have friends like this for the first time in my life. Even my cousin today wanted to see me enjoy myself & made every option available to me to go out to the flea market with him to do some shopping. Nobody went out of the way like this before... It makes me think that what I am doing these past few months is working. All of these changes in my social life are directly due to Sobriety. People can argue that statement, but I cannot. I know that I not only would have declined any offer to do things with friends in the past, I would not have even answered the phone to acknowledge them if they didn't use the stuff I wanted/needed at that particular time. At the casino there were countless people drinking, most socially which I cannot do. I saw a few stumbling, spilling, and I saw the old me in all of them. In one specific case a man was arguing with a girl about how she was talking to a guy. I can remember being that unhappy with myself, that I would take it out on a girlfriend for my own insecurities. How ridiculous that seems today. What else was ridiculous was that if friends didn't follow my lead, or if a guy was hanging out with one of his other friends instead of me.. my insecurities would flare up. ALL due to the fact that I was using drugs & drinking in a fashion that never allowed me to appreciate anything. Today I am grateful for not being the jealous, stumbling, spilling, egotistical, and spiritless person I 'used' 14 years to create. One day at a time I learn more about respect, humility, freedom, trust, loyalty, and spirituality. Isn't there something we all can learn to improve ourselves?? Is there something in your way of progress?? Sometimes its a person, job, belief, or past ways we were treated by someone that keeps us from progressing. It does not always have to be a drug. Is there something that you can practice letting go of, or changing/removing from your life, that would help you project any of the better human qualities I talked about?? If so comment & talk about it if you like, or just let me know what you think about what I feel. Thanks for blogging in. Till tomorrow.. or later today. <3 Jimmy