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

  • Where The Butterflies Live

    Written by, Michael J. Where the Butterflies Live The butterflies landed on wildflowers.They carried a message,“Your serenity has been taken.” The butterflies landed on wildflowers.I knew how to numb,to distract,to be busy,unconscious. The butterflies landed on wildflowers.I’d traded serenity.I received boredom.Not peace,loneliness. The butterflies landed on wildflowers.They said,“This right here,The silence of wind,The warmth on…

    Where The Butterflies Live
  • Dear Mary Jane

    Written by, Becky O. Dear Mary Jane,Thanks for protecting me from a lot of hard feelings I wasn’t ready to deal with yet. I don’t need you to do that for me anymore. I’m 49 and I’m ready to grow up and feel my feelings. I’m learning that they inform me about what’s going on…

    Dear Mary Jane
  • Work it cause YOUR WORTH IT.

    Written by, Day L. Before recovery, I was incredibly hard on myself. I did not believe I was lovable not by anyone else, and honestly not even by myself. Because of that, I gave too much of myself away and looked for validation anywhere I could find it. A big part of that was marijuana.…

    Work it cause YOUR WORTH IT.
  • Heard in a Meeting

    “Only way through is through.” Published in A New Leaf – May 2026

    Heard in a Meeting
  • CALLING IT AS IT IS

    Written by, Leslie J. I can’t believe it happened to me. After brushing off all the gateway drug talks, the silent, disapproving I told you so’s echo in my head. If I had only known the gate was to addiction, period—not just cross-addiction. The first time I heard about weed was in one of those…

    CALLING IT AS IT IS
  • Psychosis

    Written by, Izzy SF coming of age amidst a cloud of purple haze i thought it fueled the revolution but it turned into a cage i dreamed blue dreams while gorilla-glued to screens where paranoia sticks like sherbert and young bright eyes lose their gleams doctors say it’s cannabis-induced psychosis i might say we’re stifling…

    Psychosis