Dead On!

I would like to wish my niece Emily a very Happy First Birthday (again!), today is her actual birthday. I seem to get easily confused with all the birthdays and all of the Emilies!! Happy Birthday Baby Emily, we love you very much!!

A very big congratulations goes out to my Dad and his new wife Pat! Yes, you read that correctly "his new wife"; my Dad and my new step Mom were married yesterday on Pat's birthday (gee more October announcements!!!). A great big Happy Birthday goes out to Pat and I hope you guys had a great day yesterday, wow a wedding and a birthday all in the same day even I can remember that (hopefully!)!! Congratulations goes out to my Dad, Pat is a wonderful person and I know they are both very happy. Pat, you have been part of this family for awhile now but welcome (officially) to the family, you are a great person and thank you for making my Dad happy. Congratulations!!!

There is a bit of a side story to the marriage and I was debating on whether or not to write about it but I will give a brief overview. A few years ago my Dad told me something and when that something happened I had to do something (Got it??). However; there is no way I could do that something because Pat is a genuine person and I am so happy she is part of your life. I hope you guys have a great time in Branson and I will talk to you when you get home.

Today was a very strange day which started at 5:00 am this morning which included getting on an airplane and coming back home at 6:00 pm this evening. I did a brief visit to a formal life. I met with some people who really need help. This help is not in the way of recovery although some of the same principles should apply, these people need technical assistance. I did go through the motions and I know I can help them but the situation being what is (for me) there is no way I can go through with it. Yes, this does seem like a cryptic message and I am doing this intentionally.

I am continuing to rebuild my life and there are certain things I must do and finding a place of employment is one of them. Unfortunately; what I have done precludes me from doing what I am trained to do so I must find an alternative type of employment. This has proven to be difficult; however; nothing is impossible as long as I stick to my tenets of recovery.

As I read the Gamblers Anonymous "A Day at Time" book which as always was "dead on" it reminded me the stumbling blocks are just stepping stones for growth. Yes, there are stumbling blocks set out before me all of which have been self-inflicted; I cannot have self-pity because it will throw my recovery in reverse. I must continue to go forward and over come any and all obstacles because I have the tools necessary to accomplish what I set out to do. I must not lose focus of what really matters which is my recovery and my family. Life is filled with challenges and I relish each challenge because I know I can do anything as long as I continue to recover.

In my brief seven and half months of recovery I have seen many positives. Yes, there are set backs but only minor. These set backs only make me stronger to accomplish the things I am able to do. I continue to thank God and my family each and every day of my recovery because with their encouragement I am a better person.