12-Step Program Slogans Can Heal a COVID-19 World

This coming January, I plan to celebrate 20 years sober. I got clean as a teenager, at a drug and alcohol treatment center in Delray Beach, Fla. When I got there, I had no idea how much my life would change.

Over the years, being in recovery has meant different things. Sometimes, it is just the absence of active alcoholism — something I believe is a true illness. Other times, it is a better way of living — a transformed life, full of gratitude and appreciation for my many blessings.

I have been fortunate to spend years in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, picking up life wisdom from those who have been sober longer than I have. Some of this wisdom is found in popular slogans that people share over and over again. They are popular because they are true, simple, memorable and applicable across situations.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I have found myself returning to these slogans, repeating them as mantras to myself. If these sayings can pull alcoholics back from the brink, then they should be able to help me calm down and not lash out at people I love.