September is National Recovery Month.
My blogs will focus throughout September on addiction and its life-destroying tendencies. The writings derive from my experiences of battling addiction and living a life of recovery.
For the past seven days, I’ve focused on the Acknowledge stage of the ACT recovery acronym. Today I will begin writing about the Connect stage.
ACT leads to sobriety…
A – Acknowledge you have a problem, are powerless over it, and need help.
CÂ – Connect with a power greater than you and people with solutions to help you conquer your problem.
T – Take positive, recovery-oriented action every day.
Connect
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’ve acknowledged my addiction problem daily for the last thirty-five years and one month.
One of the primary reasons I’ve never failed to acknowledge my problem and turn it over to God is because I was instructed to do this many years ago by people in recovery who were living healthy and fruitful lives…I wanted what they had.
Addiction cannot be whipped alone, it takes help, and the longer I live, the more I realize the importance of connecting to and listening to wise counsel.
I’m so grateful for all of God’s wise people on my recovery journey.
I’m incredibly grateful for their patience.
A few months before going to treatment for my addiction problem, I went to a psychologist. The craziness of my addiction was starting to get to me, and I knew I needed help. When I set up my first appointment, I was convinced I was simply crazy and used the drugs to help me handle the craziness.
After the first meeting, my psychologist (Bob) told me I needed to get help for my alcohol and drug problem, and I told him he was wrong. I went on to say to him that I needed help in handling life.
My life was a bit crazy, and the alcohol and drugs took the edge off. He countered with one of the most impactful statements on my road to recovery: “Jay, you alcoholics, and addicts are all alike; you’d much rather admit you were crazy than admit you were an alcoholic or an addict.”
I continued to see Dr. Bob for another two months in hopes of proving him wrong…
More about Connect tomorrow.
Proverbs 15:22, “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Proverbs 28:26, “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
