I didn’t love who I saw in the mirror, I didn’t know who she was or how she had gotten to this point.

She was a stranger; and yet she was me.

But now, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing failure and not recognizing who I am, I see hope and value who I am.

365 days ago I started putting tick marks on my mirror to mark my days of sobriety.

Today I celebrate one year of sobriety.

I celebrate one year of growth.

I celebrate the relationships I have formed and the community I have been blessed with.

I celebrate each one of you who has walked this journey with me, inside and outside of the program.

I celebrate the freedom I have been given through my renewed relationship with God and myself.

I am still a work in progress, but there is one thing I know for sure:

I was created for a purpose.

The vast majority of the purpose is to love and be loved by those around me.

To value people.

To show them they are important.

To show them they have a story that is meant to be lived out, not to be given up on.

To love my family.

To love my friends.

To love strangers I meet in the Starbucks line.

To simply be myself and to love who I am the way I was created.

 

Peace