August 30

COURAGE MONTH: DAY 30: “Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.”― Madeleine L’Engle

We learn to tell our stories in recovery. We get to tell them from a new perspective. As we progress through the steps, we reframe those stories over and over. We get fresh perspective on our lives as we go through these steps.

I am always amazed at people who have a canned “pitch” in AA. You hear them share at a meeting, and they have the same set of stories and experiences to share, over and over. I am constantly coming to new and beautiful insights in this process. It is due to learning more and more about myself every day. What I believed about my life when I got here does not come close to the story I have about it all today. My stories have completely changed.

That is, for me, a true test of whether someone is moving on or staying stuck in their disease. If the story hasn’t changed, (even the using and drinking stuff), then maybe it indicates the need for some new perspective. I have never resonated with those whose stories are the same every time I hear them. The same experiences over and over are not a good sign, as far as I am concerned. I remember hearing “grow or go” so much that I got it that we are here to change. And the world does every day. Why on earth would I cling to an old, worn out , and completely irrelevant drunk-a-log when I can share so freely on what recovery has shifted in my life?