Good afternoon!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  WOW!  One year!  One whole year sober!  Who'da thunk.  I would have never thought I would quit drinking.  Well, I never thought I would have a problem so bad, I would NEED to quit drinking. I never thought it would almost take away everything I loved.  Almost kill me.  I thought it was my comfort, my help, my friend.  In reality, it was my worst enemy.  It was killing me behind my back. Well, it was in front of my face, but I refused to face it.  I have made it clean and sober for 365 days.  That is such an accomplishment, but I will be excited again tomorrow, for it is another day clean and sober.  I will have another 24 hours under my belt.  Each day is a blessing.  I no longer dread for each day to start, then get over with. I wake up with a smile on my face, for God has given me another day.  Another day on this earth, to share the hope we have in Him.  God is the one who drug me through the doors of AA and gave me another chance to see how the life He gave me, was for a reason.  To help others, give myself, as others did for me.  I had people who helped me through every day, now it is my time to give back.  I had someone ask me "How can you celebrate a birthday, sober or actual, without alcohol.  Alcohol is always used in celebration."  I simply replied, "Cake."  :) That's all for today. Have a great one!  

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  In the past, I never thought I was worthy.  Worthy of being a good daughter, wife or mother.  When I got sober, the first thing I had to do was believe in myself.  Believe that I could get sober, believe that I was worth getting sober, believe in myself period.  I knew my family believed in me, that I could do it.  But I had to do it.  Once I came to the realization I was worth it.  I had to do something about it.  I had to actually be a good mom, a good wife, good daughter, good friend.  Today I am proud of who I am, what I have become.  I am worthy.  I am worth it.  Without believing in myself,  I was nothing. It's short and sweet today.  Have a great day! 

Good afternoon! My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  In a couple days I will be sober for 1 year.  A few days after that I will be 34 years old.  I am actually more excited about my sobriety birthday than my "real" birthday.  Maybe it's the fact that I am getting old, but I think that it is more of the fact that I am excited to reach another milestone in my sobriety.  1 year is a long time.  When I was drinking everyday, 1 day was a big deal. The only times I would miss a day of drinking was when I was in the hospital from drinking.  It was always stomach problems, or pancreatitis.   Always something I had done to myself.  So today I celebrate not drinking.  Since I changed my whole life and my perspective, my life is easier now.  Each day is celebrated.  Each day is another gift from God, alive and sober.  It is a blessing I had always taken for granted before.  Today, I celebrate my life, full and blessed.  Have a great day!  

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  I think it is a great thing to celebrate anything you have overcome or achieved.  I was so excited when I had 1 day sober, then 1 week,  then 1 month was amazing.  Each month I got more and more excited.  I can't believe it's almost been 1 year.  That is such a milestone. I never thought I could do it.  Or if I really wanted to in the beginning.  My plan was to go, "get better," then drink normally.  But in now know I cannot do that.  Once I hit this 1 year mark.  I want to keep going.  One day at a time.  Each 24 hours adds up.  This can go for anything in life.  Once you hit your goal of whatever.  Keep going. Do what you want to do, a little bit more each day.  Oprah Winfrey said, "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." Isn't that the truth?  I now realize how much more I have, how much love from those around me.  I have so much to celebrate.  My sobriety comes first.  Because without that, i have nothing. I will go back to the miserable, hopeless me, and celebrate nothing.  I am so happy and blessed to be sober one more day, and for that I will celebrate.  Once I hit that 1 month goal, I wanted 2 months.  Once I hit 1 year, I will then want 2!  That's all for today!  Have a great one!  

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  I can't believe in 5 days I will have been sober for 1 year! Last night at a meeting, there were 1 people celebrating AA birthdays.  One was 2 years, and the other was 2 months.  Both are amazing milestones.  We each have done it one day at a time.  Every time someone celebrates sobriety time, it is a blessing.  I had the honor of giving each of them their AA coins.  It's neat to hear them talk about the time they have been sober.  Each one thanked someone or God.  They admitted they didn't do it on their own.  Only by the grace of God and the fellowship of others recovering as well.  We have been given this wonderful opportunity to then share our hope of a better life with others.  Be proud of yourself when you get 1 year, or 1 month or 1 day.  You have to start somewhere.  Every 24 hours, you add one more day.  Keep building that up, it gets easier.  Life gets better.  So celebrate each day your new life of sobriety.  Have a great day!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  I've come to the conclusion, not me carrying around guilt and shame for my past won't get me anywhere.  If I do something, that the next day I feel bad for, or guilty, then I probably shouldn't be doing it.  If I have to hide something from someone, I probably shouldn't be doing it.  Both of those things I did, when I was drinking.  Yes, I felt guilty, and I needed to, I was wrong. But now,  I have to get on with my life and go forward.  But live in the now, I am not promised tomorrow. I should plan like I am going to live forever, but live like I will die the next.   I also don't need to worry about the future. God has a plan for my life, and that's how it is.  I guess I finally realized I'm just along for the ride.  I am now just going with the flow.  But I do have the choice to make decisions.  God does give me choices that I am trusted to make the right one.  Each new day is another chance to change your life.  So if you fell down yesterday, get back up.  Today is a new day.  Leave the past in the past, and look up and go forward.  God has forgiven me, but I still need to make the right choices.  These choices affect not only myself, but my family.  That's all I got for today  Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  I just had a friend tell me they relapsed.  It makes me sad.  But ya know what, that does not mean they are a failure.  They just get back up, dust themselves off, and keep going.  Keep trying.  Looking back I see that my worst days sober are better than my best days drinking.  If I keep looking back I  might get tripped up, so I need to look forward with my head up.  Relapsing does not make weak, it makes you human.  Now I'm not saying that everyone should relapse because we are human, but be aware that it could happen.  I know that if I stop going to meetings or stop fellowshipping with others in recovery, I might slip back to drinking again.  When someone relapses and then gets back on the wagon, I realize that it is not any better out there than it was before.  Drinking again did not make life any better.  It still sucks out there.  So keep your head up.  Don't give up.  You CAN do this.  It may be hard, but it is SOOO worth it.  If you feel like drinking or using, call someone.  Sometimes just talking can help so much.  Getting yourself out of your own head. That's all I got for today.  Have a great one!

Good morning! My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict. Everything that is good or bad, is all a perspective.  Something I see as good, you may see as bad.  But it is what it is.  Facts are facts, but who says what a fact is.  A truth is only what you see it as.  At some time, one thing may be looked at as bad, may later turn out good.  Me being or acting like I used to is bad, we all agree on that, but look what came out of it.  A stronger woman, able to share my true feelings, wanting to help others instead of being selfish.  Giving what I have, not taking what I can get.  My perspective of life and people has changed and become a amazing experience.  Not taking people's opinions as truth. Not looking at everything negatively but as a gift, a chance at experiencing life not going through the motions.  Being true to myself, not lying to myself to get through another dreaded day.  I only live once, so why be miserable, make the best of what I have, which is truly a blessing.  Every hardship I have encountered, has been a blessing in disguise.  I have stopped wishing for things, and begun living life on life's terms. So thank you God for another day, clean and sober! :)  That's all I got!  Have a great day!