Wednesday, April 8, 2015

The Same Story

At a 12-step meeting a man with less than a year tells his story of recovery.

Even though there were some in the room with 30+ years, they all listened intently.

Because even though the man had much less time in recovery than they did, he told their story.

He talked of how he started drinking in his teens and soon was out of control. He spoke of losing educational and career opportunities after drinking became his priority.

And it was only when he lost everything that he decided to change.

The interesting thing about the 12-step programs is that the plot is always the same. Only the details differ.

First came abuse. Then something happened to make us want to change. And life became better.

These stories unite those of us in recovery - stories of a common disease that will kill us if we don't change.