For some of us, once we get clean and sober everything turns to gold. Our family returns. We get our old job back, or maybe a better one. We regain our health. Life is wonderful and all the promises are coming true for us.
Then there are others who start down that same recovery path and lo and behold, things seem to get worse. They find out how much their family really does hate them for all their bad behavior. The children may despise him them Their spouse may divorce them. They can't seem to find employment in their chosen field. And because of this many of them revert to drinking and drugging – or at least want to. Life has become so painful that they wonder "what's the use?"
I heard a speaker sharing at a meeting this morning and the latter was her story. She'd gotten sober a few years ago and had experienced a lot of loss. Some family members weren't talking to her. A significant person in her life had passed away. I could sense her pain as she fought back tears while sharing her experiences.
But the idea that some of us have good experiences when we get sober, and others have bad experiences, is not that uncommon. After all, isn't that the story of life? Sometimes things go great for us. And other times nothing seems to go right.
We must embrace the idea that life is always changing and that the only thing we can depend is change - whether we're sober or not.
It's helpful for those of us who are facing negative experiences in our recovery to learn to accept them and to view them as an opportunity for growth. As a way to add strength to our recovery.
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