R.I.P.

“Can we all just get along?” Rodney King

I wasn’t shocked when Rodney King was found dead in a swimming pool this weekend.  

Though the media didn’t reveal the cause of death, as a person in recovery I make assumptions when someone with his history suddenly dies. Mr. King’s problems with alcohol were well-chronicled in the media – as were his efforts to live sober. 

His story is moving because it profiles how some struggle with living sober – and don’t succeed. Those of us in the recovery field get to see first-hand what works for those who succeed in sobriety:

 They do something different.

They get involved with 12-step programs. They go to treatment. They join a church.  They fall in love. They find a way of life that is better than what they were doing.

Someone commented about the unique challenges that Mr. King faced because of the publicity he’d received. While his situation was far from the norm, I’ve seen alcoholics get sober after loss of family, deadly accidents,  prison and illness. I’ve also seen them die in the lap of luxury and privilege.

The point is that we get sober if use tools that are available. No one ever held me down and poured alcohol in me, nor did they tie me off at gunpoint and shoot heroin in my arm.

The guy in the mirror was responsible for it all.