The Alcoholic and a Greater Power

“The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.  Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent.  We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago.  We are without defense against the first drink.” – The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 24

This is a near-terrifying thought.  We are being told that there is no way to safeguard ourselves against the substance(s) that call to us.  The drink and/or drugs which whispers in our respective ears, beckoning us to repeat the insanity that initially brought us to this Los Angeles alcohol rehab.

What can we do to keep ourselves safe and sound?  We may read that it is beyond our power to control ourselves and that no other human power can keep us sober.  We may hope and pray that we’ll be brought to a place of sanity though we know not how.

Here is where the staff at this California alcohol rehabilitation center can direct us toward a way to tap into a Power greater than ourselves.  In using their suggestions, we may move toward this Power which can allow us to begin the building of a sturdy foundation on which our shaky legs start to learn to stand.

Connecting with this Power seems to be one of the only ways to stave off the drink and/or drug.  At any time we may suffer from a strange mental blank spot regarding the damage we’ve done while drinking and/or using.  That momentary lack of memory coupled with relying only on ourselves may immediately precede our imbibing.  In tapping into this Power greater than only ourselves, we may be given a reprieve from destruction.  It is during this reprieve where we may be able to help others and stop crushing our lives, the lives of all the people we touch, and, many times, the people with whom our people are in contact.  It is the tapping into this Power, whatever Power that is to which one connects, that may very well keep us from reaching out for that first drink.

The Alcoholic and Showing Up

“Most of us sense that a real tolerance of other people’s shortcomings and viewpoints and a respect for their opinions are attitudes which make us more useful to others.  Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.”  The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 19 – 20

How many times have we been asked to do something for someone else?  How many times have we begged off for some vague reason, canceling out on our previous promise to show up, be it days or even hours prior to the promised event?

Many times, before we entered into this Los Angeles drug rehab, we made it a point to make plans and/or agree to activities and then we would cancel.  We fell short on our various promises to show up for a variety of people over and over again.  We couldn’t seem to find a way to follow through to be there for others.

We learn, albeit slowly, that showing up is a huge part of living a life of service and, therefore, a life of genuine purpose.  There may be times now, in our sobriety, where we are ever-so-sorry we promised to show up somewhere for something yet, our feelings aside, we appear where we say we will be.  Whether we want to or not, we still show up.  Now, it’s important, if not more than important, to let others know they can rely upon us when the chips of their lives are down and their going’s gotten rough and tough.  Our very lives depend upon us being there for their very lives.

It’s not always easy to show up.  There are times when pulling the proverbial covers up over our respective heads and hiding from the world and the people in it, seem like the far better, or, at least, much more comfortable, idea.  In doing that, we refuse to handle our responsibilities and our being available for others is sacrificed for our selfish, self-centered selves.

The staff here at this drug rehab in California will begin to lay the groundwork about how the idea of showing up, and subsequently the action of showing up, is imperative to building a solid foundation of responsibility.  In our nascent understanding of responsibility and how crucial that is to living a life of service, we then begin to learn that we must avail ourselves to others and put their needs before our wants.  When we show up, when we help another person in need, we are definitively contributing to the honeyed harmony of life and listening to that lilting melody of service as it sings softly in our ear is the sweetest & most satisfying sound ever.