Hitting Bottom

The 20+ managers at the monthly staff meeting last Sunday were discussing how they’d reached their bottoms. 

One man had gone to jail for six months and when he returned home his belongings were sitting outside. The only way he could carry them was in a shopping cart. That began for him several years of homelessness.

Another man had an apartment – but chose to live outside under a bush.  A woman manager arrived in the emergency room after a fight during a drug deal. A manager who'd always smoked meth finally started using a needle, something she’d vowed to never do. Many lost marriages and children. Some suffered grief from the death of a loved one. Others didn't hit bottom until they were walking a prison yard.

Each had a story of how hitting bottom led them to change.

Anyone sitting in this group who hadn't heard the stories would view them as a typical group of mid- level managers. They were clean, bright, well spoken, and healthy appearing. They were positive and upbeat.

However, this group is unique in that they prove the positive effects of living in sobriety.  They look like any other normal group of mid-level managers. But most have histories that would disqualify them from working for a lot of mainstream companies. Yet they came back from their addictions to help operate one of the largest recovery programs in the Southwest.

In sobriety they're making a difference by helping others get sober and change their lives.