We touched on the I Am again recently and it brings so much to mind thinking what words would I use after the two words I Am. I never stopped to think that the two simple words, I AM, are so important. Think about it! What your response is may well be a forecaster for your entire life. I Am sober. This should mean that I am Happy, Joyous, and Free. What does it mean to you?
Words are very strong things. They can make you ecstatic or they can make you miserable. Joel Osteen says “Pay attention to what you’re saying. Are you blessing your life? Or are you cursing it?” When I get up in the morning and right away stub my toe, is the first thing that I say “This is going to be a lousy day.” If I do, it probably will be a lousy day. If I say that I wish that hadn’t happened but I am blessed to be alive, my chances for a great day just improved immeasurably.
Thoughts are the beginning of everything. CBA. First we get an idea – CONCEIVE. Second we visualize it happening – BELIEVE. Then we watch what we have created and visualized happening actually taking place – ACHIEVE. Watch world class athletes, say in the Olympics, prior to their event. If they are a hurdler, watch their head bob up and down as they visualize themselves running the race leaping each hurdle in the way. They are conceiving and then believing the run of a champion. They are saying “I am winning this race!”
Now, all that is left is, as Nike says, to Just Do It! This is also true in everyday life. Think back! I Conceived a thought that, if others in the program can get and stay sober, and they had been just as bad as I was, I Believed that I could too. Then I saw and heard them showing how they did it and knew that, with a little help I could do it too. So then I started working the AA program to the best of my ability and darn if I didn’t Achieve getting Sober. I Am Sober! This meant getting Happy, Joyous, and Free!
I Am Sober, Happy, Joyous, and Free. I don’t say I will try to be, I say I Am. “But I don’t know how this will be done. I have not been Happy, Joyous, or Free since I can remember” Say this and you may have met a mountain you can never climb. Try saying I Am Sober, Happy, Joyous, and Free and watch out, world! There will be no stopping you. This takes us back to Fake it ‘til you make it and Act as if. Try it for a week and come back and tell me what happened. What do you have to lose, besides misery, hopelessness, and mental shackles.