FREEDOM MONTH: DAY 30: “We are free to choose. We are even free to choose the wrong thing.” ― Lauren Oliver
This is an important concept. Many folks in recovery are convinced that it is the best path for others. Not everyone is going to choose recovery. In fact, the vast majority of addicts will NOT choose recovery. It is a tremendous gift many will never know.
That is a sad truth. A very sad truth. For many years, I have been trying to work myself out of a job. It will never happen.
There is so much that feeds addiction: social constructs around material wealth; social constructs around shame and religiosity; the inherent belief that we must have some “thing” outside ourselves to be okay; so many old ideas and so much trauma.
Our society is broken, horribly and irrevocably broken. And it gets worse, not better. We are products of a mass-marketing campaign that feeds addiction to the masses. And everyone is susceptible and participating in the craziness.
So, that gives us the freedom of choice. Even though addiction has removed choices about whether or not we continue to spiral down into a new and more horrible bottom, we CAN choose at some point, I believe, whether or not we will do the work of recovery to embrace a daily reprieve.
That, is always going to be grace. However, when we decide NOT to participate in recovery through 12 steps, I see that as a choice to NOT recover.
Call it what you like. Admitting personal powerlessness and embracing a spiritual path of recovery is not the most popular option for most addicts. I do not understand, because my life has become so incredibly awesome in doing these things.
And when I ask those who make other choices, they tell me they “want” recovery, but it doesn’t work for them. No kidding! Nothing works for me. If I am lucky, I get to work this thing. It never has worked for me!
And the benefit of the work I get to do in recovery is more recovery work to do! That scares the crap out of most addicts. We are lazy and want to do it one time and be done. Not the path I have walked, but I do understand. So, there, too, is another reason for a lot of addicts to return to active addiction.
This is a free world. There is so much freedom in recovery. Very little in addiction, because it only goes in one direction. Recovery goes anywhere we want to go. That is amazing!
Dolphin Hug 