DISCIPLINE MONTH: DAY 10: “You got to do the work no one else is willing to do, in order to get the kind of success most people only dream about having.”― Jeanette Coron
Millions of people come into recovery, daily, and so few remain. There are others, we all know them, who stick around without a drink or drug; but man, they are miserable S.O.B.s. Complaining and angry all the damn time! Yuck!
I heard something in my first few days around the rooms…a couple of things, actually. I heard “Happy, Joyous, and Free.” I also heard the best phrase, for me, in all the readings of all the groups I ever attended, “…See to it.” And I knew I wanted the first thing, and I knew the second thing was the key to getting there.
I still have a button my first “date” in recovery gave me. (Actually, my first sexual encounter, right out of the recovery house. I did not know how to date for a few years.) The button is always right next to my desk on a bulletin board…says, “Work the Steps OR DIE Motherfucker.” Now, for some of you who are more delicate, this may seem harsh. For me, it was the phrase that set the tone for the rest of my life so far.
Not afraid of death, but terribly afraid of being those cranky, miserable S.O.B.s after giving up my drugs and my booze. No thanks! Dying never scared me, living like THAT scares the crap out of me. And I have been through some really intense shit since I got here. Lived right through it, without whining (too much) and without being an asshole. THAT is what I get from the work I do. Not sure, but I never hear those miserable ones talking about the steps that bring them to freedom.
Maybe they did them early on, with that gun of relapse to their heads, but that is where they stopped. They talk about going to meetings every day and sponsoring all kinds of people, but never about working the steps TODAY. And that is why I listen in meetings; I do NOT want what they have. Years of being dry and miserable.
I am the happiest person I know. I love what I get, so I keep doing what I do. Steps every day, especially Step 10. Real discipline. Emotional and spiritual muscle building. Those are the most important muscles in the human body. Without them, you may look okay, but damn do sound like shit and feel like shit. I have never met an exception so far. And this is good, really good, shit! The best high I ever had!
Dolphin Hug 