We have Choices

A client at our Roosevelt house was complaining that his parole officer had sent him there and he had no choice but to stay.

            "Why can't you leave?" Our district manager asked him.

            "Because my PO sent me here," the client responded.

            "You can leave," the district manager told us. Then he led the client to the parking lot. 

            "See," he said, pointing to the edge of the property, "there's no fence around this place. You can leave and no one will stop you."

            "But my parole officer will put me back in prison," the client lamented.

            "So you have a choice," the district manager told him. "The problem is, you don't like the choices."

This exchange between our district manager and the unhappy client illustrates that we always have choices. This client was acting as if he didn't have a choice about being in our recovery program. But he had a choice. He just didn't like the idea that if he didn't stay he might go back to prison.

We become responsible when we deal with our addictions in a healthy manner - when we accept that we have choices about how we live. The idea that one commits a crime, then decides he dislikes the options facing him must blame himself. Had he made good decisions he would've never gone to prison.  He probably would've never started using drugs. And we would've never met him.

We understand that often people don't like the situation in which they put themselves. But part of being in recovery is realizing that we most always got into our difficulty by our own hand. 

Thousands of our clients have changed. It began when they became responsible for their choices.