DISCIPLINE MONTH: DAY 17: “Success is a mindset and not a point in time but an inbuilt combination of character, discipline, behaviors and set of principles that make who the person becomes.”― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua
This fully explains recovery for me. We do not have most of these qualities in place before we get here, or we may have been more successful with life. Many people really struggle with the idea that they are not successful prior to recovery, because they may have made a lot of money or have gained recognition in their careers and/or both.
That is not success in life. That means that we are what the BB says…”Happy, joyous, and free.” I know a lot of wealthy people who are not any of those things. They are miserable, sometimes more so than those without money, because they are driven to keep what they made at any and all costs.
That is a lot of worry and control being conducted into their lives. Often those who have material forms of success do not believe they are missing out on anything, somehow misunderstanding the whole point of recovery completely. I know many of these as well.
While finances may not be their issue, they have completely missed out on the spiritual rewards of the steps. How did they miss out on that? I know my book tells me that this is the only reason for working the steps and applying the principles. I get it. They somehow believed they could “earn” their spiritual connection by talking about it or buying it with material success. Not sure where they read that in the book(s), but they are programmed by the cultural to believe that the right house, 401K, car, wife, etc. were the only necessary ingredients to a happy life. They are very far from happy.
It is imperative that we truly understand, on a gut level, what success is all about. Or we will work very hard on things that do NOT feed the spirit and then blame recovery for letting us down. Values are what they are. And success absolutely IS a mindset.
Dolphin Hug 