Sadly, chances are we will waste our gifts or miss our messages if we are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. How can we hear God when we are out of our minds from alcohol or other drugs? Or, maybe we might manage to hear God, but are too incapacitated to take action how will we ever be of service? We won’t, at least not consistently enough to feel like we are both fulfilled and fulfilling

Thoughts are automatic, they just happen. We cannot control a thought before it occurs. People say, “Change your thoughts, change your life”. This is true! Changing our thoughts can change our lives. But until we recognize our thought patterns, we cannot change our thoughts. Thoughts are like habits; they have become engrained because we have repeated them so many times.

The Christmas holiday season can be a very hard time for people who are early in recovery from substance abuse. For people who are still learning how to be free from using alcohol or other drugs, the holidays are full of hurdles they must clear to remain sober. Chances are we have spent dozens of Christmases in the past drinking or using other drugs to celebrate the holiday (or to dull the pain of the season). This means the season is full of triggers.