I was in a group session a while back when the topic of planning came up. It became a topic because one of the members of the group announced he was leaving our program.

"So what's your plan?" I asked him. "And why are you leaving?"

"Well," he said, "I've just been here long enough."

"That's not a plan," I told him.

I went on to explain to him that certain things needed to be in place before he left, otherwise he wouldn't have much chance of success.

"Well, what I'm thinking about" he said, "is going to live with a friend of mine who's also in recovery."

"How much money do you have saved?" I asked him.

"A few hundred," he said.

"Do you have a car and insurance?" I asked him.

"No."

"And how long have you been sober? And how long has your friend been sober?" I asked him. He was starting to get uncomfortable and squirmed in his seat.

"Both of us have been sober about six months," he responded.

The dialogue went on like this for a while. And it came out that this man had no savings, no car, and no insurance. Furthermore he had no idea of what he would do if his roommate relapsed and left him to pay the rent by himself. The good thing though, is that once all of this information was out in the open, he realized that he was making a dumb decision. He decided to stay until he had money saved and a better exit plan.

While in the midst of our addictions many of us drifted for years from one situation to another. Our planning was nil. We just kind of did whatever felt good at the moment. If it seemed like a good idea we did it. For many of us there was little or no planning in what we did next. Our whole life revolved around drugs or alcohol and obtaining enough to keep us high or drunk.

One of the major challenges for us here at TLC is helping those in recovery make the transition to life back in the real world.