The Real Meat and Potatoes or 4th Dimension - Kelly K
I write articles often and most the time I am gearing them towards new people that may be interested in getting clean or sober, or for their families. This article is for people with time or even normal folks.
When people are considering getting off alcohol (or cocaine, heroin, speed, or oxys), I try to stay clear of this conversation for a while.
For the new people coming in to the program, it should be all about attraction and low stress. Most are looking for a way out. Our treatment center begins by helping you detox, get your health back, and go to some meetings for starters.
I believe that Suboxone and Vivitrol can be good tools to help new people get adjusted to this new way of life with a lot less stress. These medications should be administered while monitored by a doctor with a titration plan or time frame.
I am always asking that new people give the program 2 years. I was doing a lecture the other night and at one point I asked the clients what they thought about a psychic change. The answers varied. Little did they know, that I was trying to prepare them for the ride of their lives.
When we are in our first couple of years of sobriety (especially the first 9 months), it is hard to imagine how deep and life changing this program can be.
It kills me. I have heard thousands of people in their first 9 months judge the program. Some say that AA or NA does not work.
Because in reality they have no idea how the program works. They think that they alone have been in the program.
Tell me after 2 years of staying clean and sober, doing the deal, that the program does not work.
The 12 steps are designed to help a person have a psychic change and or find their own perception of a power greater then themselves that will help them stay sober and clean.
Help them find a power source they can rely on to obtain power at anytime. In time we are no longer powerless over drugs and alcohol, people, places and things. We will have new power. We have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. One day at a time.
It took me quite a while to understand steps 2 and 3. And, just as important - if not more - the 11th step – the "power step."
I am still at best just a human being. I have taken some steps to clean up the wreckage of my past, and swallow some large chucks of truths about myself. Though to this day I still make a lot of mistakes and often fall short.
I take a 3rd and 7th step every morning and then use the 11th step to try and stay in the game and be the best Kelly that I can be.
One of my favorite paragraphs in the book is on page 63. It reads,
"As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow and the hereafter We were reborn."
Every time I took that drink, snort or hit, I would mask the fear, I would lie to myself that all would be "ok," and in turn lie to others. Eventually I would come down and find that my fears and problems were still there. My choice was to blot out the consciousness of my intolerable situation as best I could...
... or accept spiritual help.
If you have not had a spiritual awakening – please do not say the program does not work. The program is designed for you to have a spiritual awakening. The problem is that most are of the educational variety through working the steps. To thoroughly work the steps and apply the principles to your lives, it takes some time. For me it took 5 years.
And even then, we only have a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition (obtained by service, fellowship, unity. prayer and/or meditation).
We stay clean and sober – one day at a time – and what used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration, will gradually become a working part of the mind (psychic change).
I felt like I needed to write about this, I work in recovery and to often I find myself dodging the spiritual aspect of the program, and most of you with time will agree, that
spiritual side is the real freedom, it’s everything.
Why should I fell awkward talking about it?
Very little of what is written in this article is my own original thoughts, several paragraphs were taken out of the book of Alcoholics Anonymous my perception of what they meant is expressed. If you have feed back or questions please let me know.
- Kelly K
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