Today a staff member noticed a former client of our treatment program sleeping in the doorway of a business down the street.
Wanting to be helpful, our staff member asked him if he'd like to return to the program and start over. But the man declined, saying he was quite happy living on the streets with nothing. So he purchased him a soft drink from a nearby store, and went on his way. Before he left him in the doorway, he told him he was always welcome to take another try at the program once he got tired of the streets.
It's not unusual for clients to abruptly leave after they have an issue with the way things are operated - or they simply get into a fit of anger. Patience is often not a virtue among those in recovery.
And this kind of behavior does not disturb us much. Over the last 10 years we've seen hundreds of clients become impatient with their progress and simply walk away. Some will do this more than one once because it often takes repeated failure for people to change.
Many clients seem to think that once they enter a treatment program their so-called problems will automatically be solved. It takes them a while to realize that treatment is hard work and often comes dressed in work clothes. And the hard work is not done by the staff, but it has to be done by the client themselves if there's to be any hope for change. Many newcomers are looking for an easier, softer way to get sober. But speaking as someone who's been sober for 32 years, recovery is sometimes a very difficult proposition. Just because I got sober, that doesn't mean that life automatically gets better. Life can still be a bitch and things will not always go our way.. Life will always have its ups and downs no matter how sober we are or how good our intentions are.
But what we teach in our treatment program is that one can live sober and clean if he or she has the motivation and uses the tools that we give them.
The longer one stays clean and sober the more one realizes that living in recovery is not for sissies. The people in the world with real courage are the single mothers or fathers who are raising a family on a low-paying job, yet still not reverting to drugs or alcohol to prop themselves up.
They have learned to live life on life's terms.
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