“We began to see the possibility that our beliefs about ourselves, formed while using, had been mistaken. We saw that our perceptions had been based in delusion.”

– Life with Hope, first edition, page 6

I started smoking pot because I was uncomfortable and unhappy, and I kept on doing it long after it started making me feel worse, not better. I thought that unhappiness was my lot in life. I thought I was doing life wrong; didn’t have what it took to be happy, successful, and loved and that my life just was not going to work out.

I came to Marijuana Anonymous thinking I just needed to quit smoking and everything would be fine. Because I stuck around, got involved, got honest, took the suggestions, and most of all, worked the Steps, I was able to accept myself as I am. I am a person with a disease, doing the best I can with what I have. I also got a new goal, not the “happiness” of ego gratification and getting what I want, but the peace, serenity, and freedom of living life on life’s terms, one day at a time. Most of all, I learned that I am OK, and I am loved. I belong in the human race just as I am, and it is actually possible for me to be happy, joyous, and free.

Final thought: Today, I know that peace and serenity are available to me, so long as I stay clean and keep practicing these principles in all my affairs.