I’m a changed person. Ask the squirrels.

It was 1992. I measured my success by stories of eluding the police, being the life of the party and accumulating time spent loafing off. But things were changing.

I knew at the time there was something wrong with my yardstick, the way I measured things. There was a hollow space. A giant lack of substance.

It was April and a lovely day. I left the rehab to take a walk in the woods. Broken beams of sunlight blended with the quiet of the breeze. Squirrels were busy keeping things in order all around me. It was just me and them.

It was ultimatum time. Keep living an unfulfilled life, or try someone else’s idea. I knew I had to give up my way of thinking. It’s like pressing the history-eraser button. Everything you think isn’t any good any more.

It was a quiet pact; the squirrels ambassadors of hopefulness, their forest world rising clear to heaven above. It was a celebration of throwing it all away and trusting my life to God’s world, which at that moment seemed to somehow hold itself together with a rhythm I had never before understood.

When you change the way you think, everything in your life changes.

I’m an inquisitive person, filling my days with puzzles; computer puzzles; people puzzles; new rich challenges and dreams; I feed off of this stuff. Since I decided to get sober I’ve made great strides getting to know what I want out of life. I’ve been both rich and poor. I’ve learned to stand up for myself. I have perspective. Perspective is the opposite of insanity. It is a great gift that no-one tells you the 12 Steps will give you. When I measure things today, my yardstick works.

Today I am: An award winning salesman, freelance videographer and self-taught web designer. I have made hundreds of audio recordings at AA conventions to help keep the fellowship alive through its archives. I’ve zip-lined and para-sailed, become a motorcyclist and even been kissed by a Sea Lion.

It was during one of my tapings, at an AA picnic in New Hampshire, that I met Deborah; and three years later she married me. We honeymooned in Toronto while attending the 2005 AA International Convention, and celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary under the Alamodome, with friends from every corner of the earth, at the International Convention in San Antonio.

I’ve spent 19 years finding the pieces to the puzzle, always in unexpected ways. They’re getting easier to find. Some days they seem to be floating around right in front of me.

Today we’re putting them together to create Yoga V.12, a collaboration of experiences of good, sober people. It’s fitting together quite nicely! Un día a la vez.

“. . .But there’s soup on the stove and you’re here with me
And that makes me feel fine
All the flavors come together easily
It just takes a little time

Let’s go slow
See what the details show
I’m not in a hurry
Let’s go slow
See what the details show
I’m not gonna worry”

– Jules Shear