Recovery Month – Day 28 – Ego, Dogs and Bubble Bursting

Whenever I climb, I am followed by a dog called ego.

— Friedrich Nietzsche —

September is National Recovery Month.

The focus of my blogs throughout the month of September will be on addiction and its life destroying tendencies. The writings derive from my own personal experiences of battling addiction and living a life of recovery.

These specific writings are focused on the ACT acronym.

ACT leads to sobriety…

A – Acknowledge you have a problem and you are powerless over it and you need help.

– Connect with a power greater than you and people who have solutions that will help you conquer your problem.

T – Take positive, recovery-oriented action every day.

Early in the month we focused on the Acknowledge and Connect phases of recovery and recently we’ve been looking at what it means to Take positive, recovery-oriented action every day.


As I wrote yesterday, I had finally surrendered my life to God with no conditions attached.

Somehow, I knew He held the key to my sobriety.

I wish God would have struck me with a bolt of lightning in that moment and changed me for the better, forever.

Recovery doesn’t work that way.

Recovery takes work.

Recovery is a verb.

Thankfully I had a counselor who was in recovery and knew what I was up against.


The day after I had my late night talk with God, I attended my group counseling session and I shared everything which had taken place the day before.

First, I told the group about my meeting with the DEA and how painful it was.

Then I told them about my struggles with falling asleep and how I went off by myself to have a conversation with God and how I had finally surrendered my life to God, once and for all.

They all began speaking kind words of encouragement to me. It was as though they could tell I had been through a battle and arrived victorious.

Then as the room grew quiet, my counselor looked at me and said, “Jay, something you need to always remember is God may save your soul, but He won’t save your a$$.”

She went on to explain, “One thing all of you need to remember is you don’t have a drugging or drinking problem, you have a thinking problem, and God alone will not change your thinking for you. Only you, along with the help of God, can make that happen.”

There were times in my treatment center stay when I tolerated my counselor and there were times when I hated her. This was a time I hated her.

She had burst my bubble, once again.


What I didn’t know then, that I know for certain today, is living a life of recovery is all about keeping our bubble (ego) from getting too big. The moment we think we’ve ‘arrived’ is the moment we begin to slip back into old thinking which leads to old behavior which leads to relapse.

That dog called ego is something I’ve been aware of for a number of years.

More to follow tomorrow.


Luke 14:11, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

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