We Can’t Change the World (But We Can Change Ourselves) by Kelly K.

Kelly K lives and breathes helping people in treatment through the program of AA.  He  brings some new insights in this latest blog entry.

We Can’t Change the World – We CAN Change the Way You Perceive it Though!

How do you make sense of this to a new comer? That is where Sober Living by the Sea separates itself from other treatment facilities.

Our counselors and teachers are experts at explaining the disease concept of addiction.  This is the meat and potatoes of recovery.

If alcohol or drugs were the problem – then to stop drinking or doing drugs would be the solution. People would come to us to go to detox and then we would just send them home and they would live happily ever after (because we gave them a chance to get their heads together).

That is not the case though – I asked a new fellow the other day what he thought we would be doing for him here at our treatment center.

He said: “Well, after detox – you guys will give us time to get our head together and get a sponsor and go to meetings”.

Now I am in recovery also and have quit on my own a 1000 times – I even "gave myself time to get my head together." Yes, I even went to meetings. The result was that I kept relapsing...

Why? Because I was depending on the same brain that got me into all that trouble – to be my primary source of information to get me out of that trouble and start a new life.
 
I tried to explain as best I could, we do not want you to get your head together... we want you to have a huge emotional displacement and rearrange your ideas, emotions, and attitudes with a new set of conceptions and motives that will dominate you - this is a real psychic change. We would like to help change your perception of the world.

It was as if a light bulb went on in this young man's head. It was as if everything began to make sense to him. It was a beautiful moment, and that is when I decided to write about it.

Drinking and drugging was my solution – when I knew that I could change the world.  When I finally went to treatment, I thought the goal was "not drinking or drugging anymore and getting my head together."

I understand now that new people in early sobriety are so sensitive. At Sober Living by the Sea we guide clients and teach them as best we can. We understand why we are here. t

Sometimes sharing this knowledge and getting clients to adjust to realistic time frames: 1 to 2 years in a step down treatment regimen s what is what was suggested to me and is a good measure to keep expectations "right sized."

It took a long time for me to quit trying to change the world and accept the changes within me. These changes finally let me sit in my own skin and be part of the Human Race without drugs or alcohol. One Day at a Time.

 - Kelly K