I just hit nine months of sobriety. I knew it was getting close, but I didn’t expect it quite this soon. This got me thinking: what good is counting anyway? I once had sixteen months, and it vanished overnight. I actually have only 24 hours—since yesterday. Tomorrow, it could be gone in a few minutes.

This makes me think about an inmate I have known for many years since I was a volunteer prison visitor. He calls me once a month, always maintains a positive attitude, and even a sense of humor. His slogan is a familiar one: One Day at a Time.

I think I’m in a better place than the last time I hit nine months. I contemplate the fact that this is the usual period of human pregnancy before giving birth. I realize that I can use that concept, even though I am a male. At nine months, I am about to give birth to a new life. More accurately, I am being born again—today, and each day that I stay sober. Born again—but not in a sanctimonious, or self-congratulatory sense. Rather it is a calm, grateful, reflective sense of becoming. Life is a journey, and recovery is a process within that journey. I truly feel more in control than ever before. But I also realize that I’m not the one in control. My Higher Power, whom I am now happily able to call God, is calling the shots. As long as I keep trying to connect with Him, I’ll be all right. Which brings me to another realization.

I was an agnostic for some thirty years before coming into SA. Over the past few years I have embarked on a spiritual quest, reading everything I could get my hands and my mind on. For much of that time I kept reproaching myself for my inability to believe in traditional religious doctrines. Although I willingly took the Second and Third Steps, something still seemed to be missing. I could not honestly call myself a Christian because I couldn’t believe that traditional religion was my only path to God. So what am I? Now at last, I can relax in the knowledge that labels are unimportant. God is everywhere, and my connection with Him is direct, universal, and transcendental. Now I can truly recite that wonderful prayer. God grant me the serenity… and He does!