Tom Adams
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Gratitude is a popular topic in Al-Anon and Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meeting rooms, particularly in November. Most members readily acknowledge thankfulness for the improvements in their lives and their ability to meet their challenges as a result of their Twelve Step recovery.
For lots of reasons, November is considered by some, including me, Gratitude Month. This week’s post offers some personal reflections on how I became a believer in gratitude, and some of the benefits.
After the “No Kings” rally in DC, my wife and I stopped for a cup of coffee before we moved on to the Light the Night rally for Blood Cancers United. As we were outside reading, sipping our coffee, a young man came up to me and asked what I was reading. It so happened that I was reading a book on spiritual transformation. He was an inquisitive and cordial man of 23 and he mentioned that he had been reading Søren Kierkegaard, who has much to say about the human spirit. But he also mentioned that he was an atheist, but presumed I was a Christian. We soon moved on to the No Kings rally and the threat to democracy it was trying to counter. He then stated that he was not so much in favor of democracy. He didn’t think the masses could be trusted to govern themselves well.
For six weeks now, my family has been living in Benajarafe, a small coastal town near Málaga, where you can walk to the Mediterranean in five minutes. Every morning, I walk our nine-year-old granddaughter to school. Every afternoon, we walk home. Some Fridays, we stop for ice cream. Sometimes we detour for a quick bike ride or jump on a swing on the beach before dinner. She’s learning to ride her bicycle on these streets, and I’m not terrified watching her.
Last week’s post featured remarks by Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington DC about how people without documentation are being treated in this country. He suggested strongly that they and all those being harmed by our current government are our neighbors. It is way past time to speak up and stop the fear-based oppression and deportations.
On September 28, Catholics in Washington DC held the 111th Day of Migrant and Refugees Mass.* This faith celebration followed a 1.9 mile march of over 1,000 people from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church, the neighborhood parish which is home to many immigrants, to the St. Matthew the Apostle cathedral in downtown Washington DC.
Readers often ask why I don’t say more about my own recovery journey in my posts. In exploring the Recovery Month theme of “recovery for all”, today’s post tells some of my recovery story and why I think it is important to share. While Recovery Month is ending, I will continue to write regularly on recovery for individuals and families.
It is Recovery Month, 2025. This is my 38th September in Recovery. 39 years ago was an ugly September in my life. The very notion of recovery back then was foreign, threatening and beyond my comprehension, yet here I am, with much to celebrate. One of my reflections this year is on a remarkable book published earlier this year that I had the opportunity to be involved with, A Marriage That Changed the World: Lois and Bill Wilson and the Addiction Recovery Movement. It focuses on how the union of Lois and Bill Wilson evolved into a partnership that has changed everything. This couple modeled recovery and resilience in ways that have rippled across time and transformed the way we heal from addiction on every continent and in every culture. While we live in a world of many pathways of recovery, they have common roots that were nurtured in no small way by their hands ninety years ago.
I spent four days last week at a Twelve-Step Recovery Convention in Ocean City, MD. Being back at the beach reminded me of my end-of-summer reflections and shoutout to Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s book Gift from the Sea. Today’s post reflects on my gratitude for both the gifts from the seashore and from recovery.
September is National Recovery Month. This week’s post focuses on substance use disorders and other addictions and how they impact millions of people. Learning that recovery is possible is everyone’s responsibility.
Tom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.