Gifts of the Program

Written by, Terri R.

I got my nine month chip at a Glendale MA meeting this week. I am the type of person who reflects on my progress whenever I reach a milestone like this. Course, I am very proud of myself. However, I’m also thinking of all the gifts I received from the program in the past nine months. Not only do I have my sobriety, but I have my friends, my higher power, and my future.

In my opinion, my friends are one of the most precious gifts I have received in MA. During the end of my using, I had no friends, like many of us marijuana addicts.  Today, I have more friends than I have ever had. What’s more, they are REAL friends. They love me unconditionally, and  I love them.  I have learned the true meaning of friendship in MA.

My Higher Power is my greatest gift from the program. I am not a religious person, but I believe I have become a spiritual person. My Higher Power guides and supports me in a way I have never known before. I think I am in conscious contact with God, at most times, and for that I am very grateful.

The most exciting thing I have gotten from my time in MA is my future. Before I got sober, I did not really have any goals for my future. As long as I could get high, I didn’t care what else I did. Now that has all changed. In September, I will be starting my third semester in college, and I am deciding what my major will be. The wonderful thing is that now I can do anything. Now that I am sober, I have confidence in myself. My future is not set in stone, but I know that if I am sober, whatever my Higher Power and I decide will be wonderful.

Published in A New Leaf – September 1991

  • Remember Me?

    Written by Cassie C. Remember me?We met at a party.When I was much younger.You were my best friend.Always there to lift my up.Always there to make me laugh.Always there to help me not care, Nor to cry:I was always the life of the party.You numbed me from reality.From the hurt, and pain inside.You made me…

    Remember Me?
  • “Puff” Piece for 420 Soberthon

    By Ras M. of District 27 I used to smoke to stop time. I just needed a pause – from the oncoming crazy, and my subsequent flooding of anxiety. Of course, there would be the crazy again, 5 hours later. When I stopped smoking, I found it challenging to fill large chunks of time in…

    “Puff” Piece for 420 Soberthon
  • Reclaiming 420 in Recovery

    By M. of District 27 For the past 6 years I have struggled to put clean time together, both in and out of the rooms of MA. Every time that April 20th rolls around, I have tried in vain to block out the existence of this once seemingly celebratory day and the memories that it…

    Reclaiming 420 in Recovery
  • Sober Creed

    Created by Brian B. Published April 2025 As a former U.S. Army military police officer, I learned early on the power of motivation, discipline, and perseverance. Although I couldn’t become a Ranger due to my specialized career, the Ranger Creed became a cornerstone of my mindset. I wore the Ranger tab inside my pocket over…

    Sober Creed
  • Heard in a Meeting

    “For a long time, I thought I was consuming cannabis, but then I realized, cannabis was actually consuming me…” – Anonymous Published in A New Leaf – April 2025

    Heard in a Meeting
  • Osmosis!

    By John J. of District 19 You wanna fight crime in a skintight suitYou wanna stop time and detect the truthYou wanna ray gun, wanna turn to stoneYou wanna be the one who saves the universe aloneYou wanna be fast like MercuryTravel to the past and fix historyYou wanna jump buildings, you wanna bend barsSee…

    Osmosis!