We eventually have to stand on our own feet and face life on its own terms, so why not from the start. Basic Text p.85
Some of us feel that we should protect newcomers by telling them that, while everything used to be horrible, now were in recovery its all wonderful. We feel that we might scare someone away if we speak of pain or difficulties, broken marriages, being robbed, and the like. In a sincere and well-intentioned desire to carry the message, we tend to talk glowingly only about whats going well in our lives.
But most newcomers already suspect the truth, even if theyve only been clean for a few days. Chances are that the life on lifes terms the average newcomer is experiencing is quite a bit more stressful than what the average old-timer deals with each day. If we do manage to convince a newcomer that everything becomes rosy in recovery, we had better make sure we are there to support that newcomer when something goes wrong in his or her life.
Perhaps we simply need to share realistically about how we use the resources of Narcotics Anonymous to accept life on lifes terms, whatever those terms may be on any given day. Recovery, and life itself, contain equal parts of pain and joy. It is important to share both so the newcomer can know that we stay clean no matter what.
Just for today: I will be honest with the newcomers I share with and let them know that, no matter what life brings, we never have to use drugs again.
The truth is, things DO go sour in lifeno matter if you're clean or using. The difference is: if you're clean, you are equipped and capable of handling and facing the hardships in your life and getting THROUGH them, whereas if you're using, you abuse your substance of choice in order to numb the pain, fall into oblivion, and run/hide from your problems. Well guess whatcovering up your hardships and running from them won't make them go away; it just makes them that much worse when they do finally find you. So while life isn't always a bed of roses even when you're clean, if you stay clean and serene, you'll actually have the courage and strength to face the rough spots head on. This is a strength that, after 3 years of benzodiazepine abuse and addiction, I feared I would never have. It took getting clean for me to realize that the strength to cope does lie within meI just had to give it a chance to come out and shine.
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Keep coming back,
'Cause it works if you work it,
But you gotta work it every day…
...AND NIGHT!!
