HOPE MONTH: DAY 28: “Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein
I love to hear people say that 12-step programs “don’t work for me.” What a crock! Entitled, aren’t we? Like the steps are supposed to just transform my life and I have no part in it.
That kind of laziness abounds in addicts! Abounds! The thinking that there is a pill or a cocktail that can take care of us is the way we got here. That we are just victims of life and have no part in creating the wreckage that got us to the pit in the first place.
Yes, there is a disease. So what? If you have diabetes and eat sugar every day, it will kill you. If you have heart disease and eat bacon every day, it will kill you. If you are a drunk and wait for the program to take care of your disorder (MENTAL ILLNESS PEOPLE!), it will kill you.
So, if you are an addict, you better get up off your ass and thank God for solutions. Go out and do the work of recovery. These things are called 12-step programs. NOT sit on your butt and whine in meetings about your wreckage programs. NOT wait for your sponsor to tell you what to do and only do what you have to do to placate others programs.
But, I can honestly say that I am a MIRACLE. A huge, in-your-face, fucking miracle. Why? Because I did NOT listen to the mustn’ts or the don’ts or the won’ts, etc.
I just got up off my ass and did these things, over and over, hundreds of times, every day. And I am a MIRACLE. Because I defied the rule that says I will die drunk and live my life as a miserable wretch because I have this disease. I have more than one, some physical, some mental. But I refuse to listen to what I am told about how limited I am in any way. ANYTHING can happen. I believe in magic and miracles and wonder and awe. I believe that the Power of this Universe is more powerful than anyone who told me I would not, could not, transform my life into a miraculous and beautiful thing that made me want to be ALIVE every minute of every day, no matter what it might feel like or what fears my darling friend EGO (Screaming Purple Monkeys-SPM) could create to stop me.
I am full of hope and faith and life, because these steps took all the garbage out of my way. It was all in my head anyway. Thank God for these steps and the beautiful HOPE of those of us who dare to dream big enough to get off our asses and do the f-n’ work! Woohoo!
Dolphin Hug 