February 25

HOPE MONTH: DAY 25: Never lose faith in yourself, and never lose hope; remember, even when this world throws its worst and then turns its back, there is still always hope.” ― Pittacus Lore

This quote may be a bit misleading, because we are not here to grow faith in ourselves. We are here to grow faith in a Power that is greater than we are.

That is really important for us to focus on. If we were powerful, we would never need to do any of this work. We would never have needed to use drugs or alcohol to escape in the first place. They are a poor way of coping, nothing more, nothing less. The truth is this: we cannot cope AT ALL. Never could.

So, we are not going to become empowered or become powerful. We will become humble and realize that we are not here to do any of it alone. Even with a group, we will still need a Power. And the group is NOT it. Some people talk about that, and that is terrifying to me.

Why? Because that group is more prone to relapse than remaining abstinent. And that group is only human, not a greater power. They cannot relieve the obsession or do any of this stuff. They are other members who band together to help each other find the Power. They cannot be powerful any more than we can.

Today’s trend toward empowering people is a load of crap. We don’t need to be empowered. We need to be humble enough to realize we MUST find a Power that is greater than us. And it is not a door knob or a group or a sponsor or any of that. It is the Power that created whatever you see around you. This includes the group, but the group is not self-created.

Grace can only come from that Source, that Power. Do not put your faith or your hope in anything less. If we believe, as one of my sponsors used to say, that we can “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps,” we are going to fail in this thing. We cannot. We are Powerless. And we must have that Power to give us what we do not have.

We will never have power. No matter what. Ever. This is demonstrated by those who think they can remain “recovering” or  “recovered” after doing the steps one time and going to meetings. Ugh! It is horrible to be around them. Dry drunks, miserable and full of ego and malcontent as hell.

So, we must have hope. This will become faith as we begin to see the benefits of finding that Power and doing the steps 3-12 that keep us in that space. Full of Grace. I love that!