Anything's Possible

Once we get sober, most anything is possible. This was illustrated for me again yesterday, when I encountered an old friend I hadn't seen in a few years – a man who also works in the recovery field. He was a manager at the program where I first got sober.

At the time I met him we were both an early recovery and had little in the way of resources. However, we both continued working in the recovery field. And we both experienced success. He eventually left the program where I met him and acquired a recovery home of his own. Now, 20 years later, he owns multiple houses and is in the process of purchasing the apartment complex where I first met him. It's inspiring to see how working hard and staying sober has brought him success. He has helped many people change their lives and no one deserves success more than he does.

His story illustrates that we can do most anything with our lives if we stay sober and show up each day. His success might look easy to an outsider. But I know he's spent countless hours talking to recovering addicts and alcoholics about their problems. He's taken many phone calls in the middle of the night, listening to those who are ready to pick up a drink or drug one more time. Once in a while he's come to work, only to find that the manager has absconded with his money. Or he will find one of his staff members is drunk or high. Maybe he'll get a stack of tax bills in the mail, or else the city will give him problems about zoning.  Rather than quit, he continues to help those he believes are serious about change. For that reason he continues to show up each day.

And God has rewarded him for his perseverance and his willingness to help others. Today he’s one of our city’s most successful recovery home operators.