The Daily G.I.F.T. from The GratiDude

Here Kids! Have my sobriety! You will celebrate this forever, I promise.

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

First

Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful: to know that I can feel when my ego is out of check when I have the need to be right or to feel victimized.

Intention-water water everywhere, copy what it does

First-call with Leo and Mike

Things-Angie call schedule

Morning Meditation from The GratiDude

We think of the greatest challenges that we could ever encounter would be outside of ourselves. Specifically, what I mean by that is that instead of the biggest challenges, being an internal struggle, we tend to think of things like climbing a mountain or a work achievement something that can be seen, measured, or verified even in the outside world.

As we age, we realize that truly the biggest struggles are done in the shadows behind the scenes and inside our own selves.  

This is why it is called shadow work as we have talked about. More on this further down.

I can tell you definitively compared to anything I’ve ever done, whether it be; a business deal, a physical challenge, running a half marathon, hot yoga, 40 mile mountain bike rides, surviving in the woods overnight, getting kidnapped in Tijuana, a car accident, all of these things pale in comparison to the challenge that I felt when I decided that I was going to quit alcohol once and for all about five years and 100 days . 

For me at that time, the biggest motivation I could use and focus on was my family and specifically being sober from alcohol to make sure that I didn’t destroy my marriage and to be a positive influence and a best version of myself for my kids as they were soon to become teenagers.

The love I had for the mother of my children was a huge motivator to conquer my fears, and obviously thinking of my children’s faces and remembering traumas that myself, and some of my other friends had as we got older with alcohol and adults and parents it was the fuel powered me and those really difficult days in the first few weeks of sobriety . 

I still have immense love for the mother of my children. Don’t get me wrong, however now that we are divorced, that love has shifted into something different. However, my loyalty and appreciation for her will continue to grow and be part of who I am for the rest of my life.

I hear people say all the time as they talk about their children “ yeah man, I would die for those kids “. 

That’s not the question, the real question should be “are you ready to really live for your kids? Are you ready to tackle your own past traumas and fears and baggage so that you don’t just pass those on to your kids and have them imitate and repeat your same mistakes?“ 

I would die for you line is so medieval classic useless and just a redundant statement of the physical and genetic attachment we all have and feel for our offspring.

It’s not really saying a lot.

What says a lot is when you shift gears and as an adult and I’m certainly not tooting my own horn but now that my kids are getting older and they understand that their dad drank for 30 years and then put the bottle down cold turkey with no program outside of his own gratitude based yoga and meditation. The Kids understand the level of my love, commitment, and the extent that I’m willing to go to deal with my own shit in order to make sure that they have the best possible chance to pursue their own personal greatness .