Half Measures?

I ran into a friend yesterday and while we catching up on the news she mentioned hearing about a mutual acquaintance we’d both worked for 20 years ago when we were in early recovery.

            “Is he still sober?” I asked, curious about whether the man had ever dealt with the anger and control issues that had repeatedly sabotaged his promising career.

            “Somehow he’s still sober,” she said. “But nothing else has changed.”

She went on to describe how the man had once again recently lost half his staff because of his angry verbal abuse – even though he paid them well. 

It was sad to hear this man’s story. He’s built successful businesses more than once, but can’t enjoy his success because people refuse to work for him.

 This illustrates that sometimes we need to seek help beyond the 12-step programs in order to enjoy the full benefits of sobriety.

Though some believe that not drinking or doing drugs is sufficient, I don’t believe we’ll realize the promises if we don’t continue to work on our challenges – not matter how painful it may be to confront them.

Whether we have psychological issues, educational issues, health issues – we’ll never have a full life if we don’t deal with them.

I got sober to live a full life – not take the half measures that bring half results.