Keep Flowing in Gratitude
Message from the Director
A very wise elder in my AA homegroup who passed away from cancer last year always knew the right thing to say in any given circumstance and it was almost always the same advice. I can hear his voice in my head as I write this. He would claim confidently that...
“There are no such things as problems in recovery, only opportunities.” Problems always give us ample opportunity to be grateful. Problems give us the liberty to “live life on life’s terms.”
In recovery, we either learn to be grateful, or we don’t last. Gratitude is the air of recovery. Gratitude is what makes the lungs of recovery fill, the heart beat and life flow. Grateful people love life.
An attitude of gratitude focuses on what we have rather than what we don’t have. With gratitude, there is such a thing as enough. People filled with gratitude aren’t good consumers because they don’t heed the message “you need more stuff, stuff will make you happy, stuff will make you whole.”
Gratitude to God makes us whole, not wanting or seeking more stuff. It allows us to make the abundant blessings we already have in our life not only count but also be enough. And not just enough, but more than we could ever have imagined.
Gratitude allows us to understand that there is enough for everyone, so we don’t have to hoard whatever it is we think we need. There is plenty, make no mistake about it, God always provides what we need.
Matthew 6-31:
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
In a culture addicted to the belief that “I need more” to be happy, content and satisfied, people with an attitude of gratitude stand out. They are like roses growing out of cracks in a field of clay. People watch. People see. And in being seen, we give some small measure of the bread of life to the world.
Kevin Williams
Executive Director
