“The beginning is always today.” ~~Mary Shelley
“Never feel guilty for starting again.”~~Rupi Kaur
“The future lies ahead, calling us up, offering us a new chance to make a new choice every day, offering us the chance to go another way, to start over. The possibilities are countless. All you have to do is just dare to take them.” ~~Zøe Haslie
#1 I have a life-threatening problem that once had me.
I now take charge of my life and my well-being.
I accept the responsibility.
Maybe you are completely new to sobriety, or maybe you have been trying to achieve more than a few days or weeks sober, or it is possible that you are just exploring sobriety. In any case, welcome! Women for Sobriety is an empowering tribe of courageous women who understand and can relate to what you are thinking and feeling. You are not alone!
Our founder, Jean Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. writes in a Collection of Sobering Thoughts (Volume 17), “When trying to quit drinking, it is extremely important for us to be around persons who feed us positive messages. We cannot be around persons, who when learning that we’ve quit drinking say, ‘It’s just about time.’ Comments like that we don’t need.
Self-help groups are extremely valuable because the members reinforce each other’s commitment to a life of sobriety. Why we are quitting drinking begins to have some appeal. It may not be much, but we will be leaning in the right direction. Another very important result of all this is that our defiance and anger lessen. Even our fears begin to lessen and we start to have some real good feelings about ourselves. It begins to look like we might make lasting sobriety this time.” Sobriety and recovery? Yes, you can!
Hugzzz
Karen
Hi 4C Women,
What I deeply appreciate about support groups like ours is that we continue to learn from each other. I’ve said this before, and I will keep saying it because the insight and life experience of those courageous women who walked into a WFS meeting or into a zoom room are the encouragers for others of how to work towards a New Life. In one word, their recovery journey brings HOPE when it is needed the most. In a world where there are struggles, uncertainty and even fear of being able to live free and supported in a sober world, we share a commonality that doesn’t need explanation. As Karen said, it’s important to remember we are not alone, we are accepted and encouraged to keep trying.
I found my recovery path in WFS over 33 years ago. As a facilitator, I wanted to be sure that it was a safe place for women to share, to know they would not be judged if they faltered. Along the way, there was a lot of bonding together as well as sharing of fabulous coping tools. I met women who empowered each other with uplifting insights and sharing positive characteristics in each other that they themselves had yet to discover. In the end, we all learned that it was still each woman’s responsibility to take in all this incredible encouragement and support and create the New Life they yearned for and eventually believed they deserved.
What do you consider your major stumbling block in accepting responsibility?
Do you have an action plan to work towards accepting responsibility?
How are you an encouraging supporter and giving back to others what you received in your New Life?
How does HOPE show up in your world?
What responsibilities have you taken on in your recovery that has somewhat surprised and yet created confidence in your capabilities?
What coping tool has helped you the most?
What self-care/well-being actions are you taking?
Remember, it doesn’t matter why you start, it matters why you stay.
Bonded in your willingness to start being in charge of your life and well-being; bonded in playing it forward, Dee
Thanks again for a fantastic conference! We reached over 550 women and raised over $100,000 to bring the New Life Program to women in recovery. If you attended this year’s conference, please don’t forget to fill out the conference evaluation today!