A mom wrote to me: My son is miraculously almost a month sober thanks to some guardian angels in AA, who are showing him there is a better way. He has been to many rehabs, but never fully bought into the message of AA. This time he has been embraced by some very good people, and this has been the missing link all along. The program has done for him what no amount of love, effort, or money has been able to do before.
My reflection: My son was also in dozens of rehabs, half-way houses, and detox centers, and I’m sure they made some difference, like drops of water on a rock. But for fourteen years, he continued his decline into a life of drugs, ultimately heroin, until he was almost dead.
Today’s Promise to consider: We can love, cajole, weep for, and finance our loved ones as they suffer the consequences of their disease, but they are the ones who need to make the final decision to live in the solution. They have to want it and have the courage to fight for it. For my son, the good folks in AA made an undeniable difference. There he found his ‘angels,’ who understood his trauma and supported his many steps along the path to wellness. They had walked-the-walk, and they helped my son find his way out of the chaos of addiction’s grasp.
Live in the solution. I always love to hear you say that….. Because my son s whole life has been “live in the chaos”.
Thank you.
Dea Samantha, Thanks for the kind comment. My son uses those words – ‘living in the solution’ – and he has taught me. We, too, lived in chaos for fourteen years. I join you in prayer for your son to decide to live in the solution. My love to you.
“Sick and tired of being sick and tired!” This AA quote always reminds me that it is the pain of the disease that leads to long term recovery. When we step in and make the journey less painful we prolong the disease and push our children’s recovery further out.
Dear Pat, A great sentence, “When we step in and make the journey less painful we prolong the disease and push our children’s recovery further out.” Yes, yes, yes.