I was asked the other day about the gifts sobriety and recovery have given me. After thinking about it, I realized I could talk for days about it! If I had to do a short list, the first one that comes to mind for me is the ability to be true to my word. The second would be the ability to be present, not only to be present for my friends and family, but also to be present for myself. By being able to identify what I am feeling at any particular time so I don’t have to react anymore and by being able to be present, I can let people be who they need to be and I don’t have to take offense to them. That may be an easy task for most people, but for this alcoholic and addict it wasn’t. I could not distinguish the difference between fear, anger, sadness, and other emotions, so I had self-medicate; that made all of those emotions run together. During the holiday season, I always think of my family, who receives gifts from my recovery too. They have been able to move past the stigma around addiction and what other people will think with us being from a small town. In the generation my parents are from, that is big deal. Today, they can support me 100% in continuing my journey. If anyone is struggling with addiction, the one thing I could say would be that our addiction does not define who we are and that it is okay to ask for help. Everyone deserves it.