As addicts, we look at our glass of life as being half empty. Our self-centered expectations are to have a full glass or even better, have the glass overflowing. Life is not fair: others have full glasses, why shouldn’t we? We are jealous of those with glasses fuller than ours. We are resentful of those around us whom we blame for keeping us from filling our glass. Rooted in these resentments is the twisted and faulty logic that we use to rationalize our addictive behaviors to fill our glass with self-centered wants.

In early recovery we get honest and see that our glass of life is full of our addiction. The program calls on us to empty our addiction from our glass. This is negative sobriety—giving up lust, doing without our hidden secrets.

As our recovery grows, we gain acceptance and begin to practice positive sobriety. Our glass of life takes on a new perspective. We begin to fill our glass with gratitude for the program, the fellowship, a relationship with our Higher Power, and the people in our lives who give us support. The empty portion of our glass remains hope for the fulfillment of the promises. We start making real connections and our glass gets fuller. The more we practice positive sobriety, the more we are grateful and the fuller our glass becomes.