In the midst of winter, I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer----Albert Camus
When things seem to be going badly and everyone appears to be against us, what do we see? Do we think things will never get better, or is there a ray of hope inside us that believes everything will soon be okay?
In the midst of a long, cold winter, we might only see the gray skies, feel only the biting chill, hear only the crunch of our feet on the frozen earth. Wintertime can be compared to the bottom we first had to hit before we entered the program--a gray, dreary, hopeless emotional freeze.
Yet we've learned there is hope. Each day of recovery has warmed the emotional chill and brought new life back into our bodies. We can now trust that even in the darkest and coldest of times, there is a warm glowing ray of hope and faith all around us.
I trust there is hope for even the most hopeless of situations. Tonight I have a great faith in the healing of the program.
Amy E. Dean, Night Light a Book of Nighttime Meditations, Hazelden
I have great faith in this program. As the axiom goes "it works if you work it". All the clichés you hear at the tables are there for a reason.
The first three or four years I was here at MIP, I was on every day, every single day, running my mouth like I had good sense. I hope I touched some people. I hope I was able to help some folks with a bit of my esh. ( and I know I pissed a lot of people off with my less than filtered views). As new mods came and left, I found myself spending less and less time here contributing, because I feel helping in a group like this is a great way to grow, and stepping away, for me, seemed wise. Kind of a "let the kids do it".
I know what has helped me over the years are those steps, and who I surround myself with. I've lost friends and loved ones to this disease. I wasn't able to help them. Sometimes, letting go is the only thing one can do.
In my 'outside' life, I'm an EMT and fire department chaplain. I work with wonderful brave young men and women almost every day. There are times their jobs, what we all see, impacts them and at times their families; sometimes I see them deal with the stress via alcohol or other substances. I try to be there for them. Not to preach, not to thump, but to listen and sometimes just to hold. It is one of the ways I give back to a God that has given so much, so very much, to me and a community I love.
Today, I found myself in a position of indifference. That is not something I feel very often, if at all. But the message to me was loud and clear. It's time for me to move on. When someone I see is sick, and I don't give them the words that might help them, when I make the choice to shrug them off, then I know I'm no longer going to be useful.
I hold many of you dear. I hope your journeys take you on that wonderful path called a sober life. My best and my prayers are with all of you, always.
The first three or four years I was here at MIP, I was on every day, every single day, running my mouth like I had good sense. I hope I touched some people. I hope I was able to help some folks with a bit of my esh. ( and I know I pissed a lot of people off with my less than filtered views). As new mods came and left, I found myself spending less and less time here contributing, because I feel helping in a group like this is a great way to grow, and stepping away, for me, seemed wise. Kind of a "let the kids do it".
I know what has helped me over the years are those steps, and who I surround myself with. I've lost friends and loved ones to this disease. I wasn't able to help them. Sometimes, letting go is the only thing one can do.
In my 'outside' life, I'm an EMT and fire department chaplain. I work with wonderful brave young men and women almost every day. There are times their jobs, what we all see, impacts them and at times their families; sometimes I see them deal with the stress via alcohol or other substances. I try to be there for them. Not to preach, not to thump, but to listen and sometimes just to hold. It is one of the ways I give back to a God that has given so much, so very much, to me and a community I love.
Today, I found myself in a position of indifference. That is not something I feel very often, if at all. But the message to me was loud and clear. It's time for me to move on. When someone I see is sick, and I don't give them the words that might help them, when I make the choice to shrug them off, then I know I'm no longer going to be useful.
I hold many of you dear. I hope your journeys take you on that wonderful path called a sober life. My best and my prayers are with all of you, always.
Chris (wren)
Adieu.
May you walk your Road of Happy Destiny in peace and serenity.
