Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Pain then Change

“What brought me to the program?” was the topic of last night’s group. And it elicited interesting responses.

One man said his life had spiraled downward to where he was homeless. Sometimes he found his meals in the dumpster. He was always depressed.

He said that once in a while people would offer to help, offer to take him to a detox. But he said he wasn't ready because he couldn’t stand the idea of not having drugs and alcohol in his body.

Another client said that what inspired him to get into recovery was that he’d run out of options. He found himself going from living in a house to living on skid row in Los Angeles. He said family members offered to help. But it took him a while to realize that he was powerless.

Another man said that for some strange reason he kept having opportunities to get into recovery even when he didn't have money or resources. And he found himself coming to Arizona from another state almost by divine intervention.

All their stories had pretty much the same plot – only the details differed. Life was good. They started using and enjoyed it for awhile. Then bad things kept happening that brought pain into their lives.

And the pain was always the catalyst that helped them to change.

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