It is good to be sober for almost 14 years and I am glad I
made it this far by giving myself a second chance at life. Everyday feels like a gift and every night I
go to bed looking forward to the new possibilities the next day will
bring. I feel that way about life
because I know life is here for me to make the most of it.
When we enter recovery, we are uncertain about everything
and wonder how and from whom we are going to receive the effective direction we
need to get sober. Those of us who make
it in this journey of seeking the new sober life, realize that the person we
need effective direction from the most, is our self! The fact is this solution often remains
unseen because we never realize that we must be teachable in order to find
recovery.
One thing many of us are convinced of, is that our way of
thinking does not work, because if it did, we would have never ended up
addicted in the first place. The truth
is that addiction has taught us to no longer be teachable and when we get sober
and learn new ways of living, we realize that being teachable is a large part
of being sober. But when we gain
long-term recovery of five or more years, how do we get society to understand
that for us there is no way back to the addicted way of life?
Society does not see us as people who are capable of having
respectable lives ever again. This is,
without a doubt, where all people in recovery hit a stone wall, no matter how
much they achieve in his or her recovery.
Because of this very sad reality, many do not see the point in staying
sober. Over time, many of us learn that
society is ready to forget that we were addicts but they are not willing to
forgive us and accept us as changed people.
This is simply not fair to those of us who have conquered our recovery and
have done the work necessary to become contributing members of society.
A few months ago, I was invited to speak on a panel in Santa
Barbara, California. The panel was about
drug policy and the conversation was very loaded. I wondered if there was anything I would come
away with in terms of tools to help others in recovery. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. But to my surprise I got an email from a
sober man who told me about LifeRing Secular Recovery. I looked up this program and was impressed
with what I found. Cofounder Martin
Nicolaus has written a groundbreaking book entitled "Empowering Your Sober Self" about new solutions for
recovery. He has also pointed out what
is wrong with our current system of recovery and how we can fix it. LifeRing is a brand new hope on the horizon
for those looking for a different solution to recovery. It takes a healthier position than any other
program I have ever seen and it’s creators have an in-depth understanding on
how to make recovery more attractive for those who are looking to recover from
a place of good character and self-empowerment.
I give LifeRing an A+ and recommend it to anyone who is
looking for effective solutions to our broken system of recovery. I especially recommend it to the courts that
are bound by the Constitution from sending people in to the 12-Step program because it is a program based on religion.
