There is only one actual solution, besides some sort of immediate divine transformation. Everything else is just a remedy or band-aid, and lots of stuff shouldn’t even be dignified with either label. The only solution is something we like to call “hard work”, also known as “repeated right action”. Nothing else with save us or fix us for good. Nothing else will effect real and lasting change in us. There is no easy way out… not with the damage we have done both internally and externally.
Why does repeated right action work?
For one, because it keeps us sane, and any addict who is kept sane is safe from relapse. And it’s because with each little bit of courage we show, we gain more and more access to the power of God, and the more we can access the power of God, the stronger we get, the more we can do, and the more limitless our life becomes.
Truly, we can get to the point where addiction is nothing to us anymore, just a blip on the radar. Watch the F out because we are off and running and have all kinds of amazing things to do and accomplish. Once the fire is lit within an addict, or anybody for that matter, there are no more problems such as addiction and fear.
People think it’s arrogant to say I’m recovered, especially other recovering alcoholics and addicts. Do you know why they think that? Because they don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. They have no idea what my experience is. They have no vocabulary or familiarity with what it means to be recovered. Oh, it’s dangerous and pompous to say you will always be sober, they will say. No it’s not. Not for someone who no longer suffers from thoughts to use, someone who no longer cares about using, and someone who does the work he needs to do to take care of himself and his relationship with God.
But back to the main point. How do we accomplish this state of lifelong, permanent recovery?
Repeated hard work. Oh and faith (which is trust). Everything else is just a temporary remedy and does not actually change us or free us from addiction and other such maladies. It never ends the shit I get for being narrow and stupid and claiming there is only one solution. But these types are only saying that because they are suffering and have failed or have loved ones that have failed repeatedly. Anyone who actually works hard and commits one’s life to spiritual growth would never say that because they don’t fail. They never look back and always move forward. So should you.
God, teach us addicts how to work hard, trust in our recovery, trust in You, and never look back…
Coming over here from “The Gardener's Cottage.” What saved me, Charlie, was a spiritual intervention. I needed to feel I was forgiven, that I was washed clean of all that crud. I put that load on Jesus, gave Him my struggle. Thirty years later, I'm still standing. Yes, it was hard work and “repeated right action.” But once, I was in, I never looked back, even when the battle was tough an sometimes overwhelming.
Amen. And beautifully said. I knew I had to clean myself out for God to come in, but how? Then a bunch of recovered junkies laid this 'kit of spiritual tools' at my feet and here I am, 'still standing', and not worried about a thing… except for maybe what's happening to our government/culture 😉 Thank you for coming over and reading and sharing. I'm grateful.