A friend who was a drug and alcohol abuser has been in recovery almost ten years. For thirty years he was a street bum living in boxes on hot air gratings, begging or stealing food, in and out of jail, working odd jobs long enough to earn money to feed his habits. I asked him: “What caused you to change so suddenly.� He answered quickly: "When I was sixteen in high school, I was on drugs. My mother told me that when I got tired of living that way, there were other choices. I lived in the streets for years. Every time I saw her, she reminded me that I had other choices. One morning I woke up with a broken arm and an excruciating hangover, I remembered what she had told me and decided I didn't want to live that way any more. That morning I choose to change my life."

He has acted on his new choice. Today he has a job that requires a certified driver’s license. One requirement for the license is a random drug test at least once every six months. He said other drivers hate the test, but he looks forward to it. When the test is over and he gets the results, he jumps with joy and shouts: "Yes, I did it! Clean and sober again!" He is discovering life's joys like a child, having experiences that most of us had as teenagers even though he is nearly sixty. Things that I take for granted, are exciting and new for him. His experiences taught me two valuable lessons. First, the little things in life are really the biggest joys; and second, no matter what I may have done in the past or how long I have persisted in doing it, I can make a new choice today. Those new choices give you and me the awesome power to change the fundamental direction of our lives.