The Hug that Changed a Newsletter
AFF Newsletter on Substack #10
Welcome to the AFF Newsletter on Substack.
As I sat down this afternoon to write this for you, my son saw that I had used his picture for yesterday’s edition and gave me a huge hug.
“Thanks Dad, I love you”.
I never intended for him to see it. I’ve not revealed too much about this newsletter to him.
So when he saw the picture he drew and saw me typing away he asked me whether I was writing a letter to him.
Well, to be honest, that thought has crossed my mind on several occasions and recently regained some resurgence after I saw an old tweet from my friend, Ryan Stephens.
https://twitter.com/ryanstephens/status/1212399357250719744?s=20
I’ll admit, I had previously wanted to write a private blog for him but I didn’t want it to be on the internet.
To counter that, I had started physically writing a little journal for him but I was not consistent enough with it.
But I may revisit the idea in the future.
It’s funny that this happened earlier as I was going to go with a completely different message for today’s newsletter.
However, it does lend itself nicely to a topic I’ve found myself revisiting over and over in my head recently.
Leaving a positive legacy
Legacy - The long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, etc. that took place in the past, or of a person’s life.
As I said, this is something I have been thinking about a lot over the last few months.
These are some of the questions I regularly ask myself:
What kind of legacy am I leaving behind for my son?
What will he say about me when I’m gone?
What wisdom am I passing on to him?
What lessons am I teaching him to navigate his way through life?
You may well ask yourself the same questions.
When looking back over your life now, do you feel you've created a positive legacy?
We all want to be remembered fondly by those we love when we’re gone and we all want to be forming a positive legacy while we’re alive.
For me - from heavy drinker to sober dad - overcoming my addiction to alcohol - is a positive part of my story that I've already passed on to my son.
But what else?
This is the question that burns within me, but for which I may have already inadvertently answered.
You see, my sobriety is the only way I will be able to succeed in my pursuit of building a positive legacy.
If I were still stuck in the grips of addiction, the chances of me leaving a positive legacy behind would be greatly diminished.
Through the power of recovery, I have assured myself a better chance of living a life worthy of my son celebrating when I'm gone, rather than trying to forget.
Addiction recovery will give you the best chance of passing on wisdom and life lessons that your kids can remember and pass on to their own children.
So while it's hard to ascertain now whether I'm going to leave a positive legacy behind, I know I've definitely put myself on the right path.
Recovery has set up the first part of my legacy, now it’s up to me to continue building it.
Take care and have a great day,