Happy Birthday To Me…Happy Birthday To Me…Happy Birthday Dear Andrew…Happy Birthday To Me…
It’s June 11th, 2013, and it’s also my birthday! 40 years have now passed since the day I was born. Sometimes I find it hard to believe how much time has actually passed since that day back in 1972. And wow, 1972, to even say that year makes me sound old. But I think it’s true what they say, that the older one gets, the wiser they become.
I really have been blessed with so much valuable wisdom throughout this life and it keeps on getting better and better the more I grow closer in my relationship to God. I’m grateful for that relationship and felt it might be best to share some of that wisdom in no particular order of importance, that God has imparted upon me so far in this life…
1. God does not discriminate, people do.
2. True happiness is something that money can never buy.
3. The only thing any addiction can bring is greater distance away from getting to know and love oneself.
4. Getting sober is just the beginning of finding recovery.
5. Every religion is just a different way of looking at the same God.
6. Religion is studying a pathway to God, spirituality is living a life with God.
7. If one doesn’t love themselves, they can never truly love another.
8. Prayer is the action of speaking to God and meditation is the action of listening for God.
9. Free will is really the same thing as self-will and both are often the opposite of God’s will.
10. Living life is all about learning lessons. The more one learns them, the greater one’s serenity.
There is so much more I could write on what has transpired in the 21,564,000 minutes that have passed since I took my first breath. But the most important thing that has transpired in my life today is my stronger relationship with God. Because of that, I am also celebrating on this very day, eighteen years of continuous sobriety of a life free from all alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes.
So in essence, I get to celebrate two special occasions today. Wherever they take me today doesn’t really matter so much as knowing that the real celebration in itself is to still be sober and able to take another breath of life…and it’s one that I hope will bring me even closer to God.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson