A Story of Recovery:

An A+ Life

I am sitting in the library at Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA, studying Spanish for an intensive eight-week program. When they said “intensive” they were not joking! We have class for over four hours a day, followed by hours of homework every night. In addition, we are encouraged to join conversation groups, watch Spanish films, and stream Spanish TV and radio through the Internet.

While my housemate (also in the Spanish program) and I were driving to Yosemite for the weekend, we listened to Spanish CDs for hours. Today at a potluck for the language students—where I brought my beautiful weighed-and-measured lunch, and no one blinked twice—I met five Spaniards and we’re going hiking tomorrow in Big Sur State Park. I have a dreamy life for which I am grateful.

I describe these amazing things happening in my life now, because there is no way I would be here without my higher power. Because of FA, my sponsor, and guidance daily from my higher power, I feel I am realigned with the life God always intended for me. I’m free from the daily nagging of sugar and flour. Before FA, at the age of 29, I was 5’ 5” tall, 167.5 pounds and climbing, and I was miserable. I lost about 50 pounds in around seven months and now have just over two years of abstinence.

In order to stay abstinent while away from my regular meetings for the summer, I want to stay strong in my recovery. I do that by praying daily for God to show me his will and give me the strength to carry it out.

As an FA fellow once put it, I am like a sponge. I can’t absorb more recovery unless I squeeze out what I’ve got. I prayed for God to show me where to squeeze out my recovery. So, I recently took on a new sponsee, and I’m doing service by writing this article.

In the middle of the chaos and challenges of learning a new language, I know that if I put my program first, everything I put second will be first-rate.  FA got me out of the perpetual rut I was in. Now my life is transforming into a life I only dreamed of. Thank you God and FA.

 

This story was originally published in the Connection Magazine. Subscribe to the Connection Magazine for more stories of recovery. Or submit your own story of recovery.