What Works, Works! - The Disease & Method Passed On

Feb 24. Hey guys & gals, for wednesday I can't complain. The only exciting news I got today was that we might get buried in a few feet of snow up here in the northeast. No news doesn't keep me from having plenty to talk about thought. Afterall if I don't share whats going on, my disease stands a much greater chance of sneaking back up on me. In fact its almost gauranteed that if an addict/alcoholic goes on too long without sharing where they are at, they will eventually crumble. There is a line in the text of the 12 step program that states, "rarely have we seen a person fail who has thouroughly followed our path". That line is there for a reason, because the opposite is true, rarely has a person been seen successful in recovery who has not thoroughly followed their path. Today was a great day for me to just sit back and realize that "what works, works". It has been working for over 75 years to help miracles occur in the successful recovery of alcoholics and addicts across the world.

I took a little time to actually think about how far back this problem in my life really goes. And how long overdue the solution was. Everything happens for a reason I believe today, and my finding a spiritual way of life was no accident or at the wrong time. I think what has happened in my past was meant to be in order to shape me to the person I am today and will become tomorrow. But the disease goes back much further and is much bigger than just what lies or laid within me at its greatest point. In religions & histories around the world addiction dates back as far as civilizations themsevles. Its rather unfortunate that the method of recovery that actually works was not discovered fully until approximately seventy five years ago. A few of them are worth listing though to better paint a picture of how old this disease truly is.

There are counts of native american tribes having their medicine men become "unwelcomed" in the tribe's day to day lives unless an emergency and need for their rare substances & cures were needed. They had to live outside the immediate confines of the rest of the tribe.. ie.. a tent in the woods. The accounts of some were said as they got "lost in the spiritual tools" which for many tribes were mind altering substances found in plants & other natural means. In china & the western world epidemic of people being sick & even dying from poppy extract was accounted in ancient history & folklore. Its a well known fact that poppy plants produce all modern opiates & heroin. The people who developed these problems typically died from the ingestion of poppy extract.. ie overdose.. or from ilness related to getting out bad "spirits" .. ie detoxification. Before modern rehabs, a person's only hope was to survive an unassisted detox and then hope for no further exposure to the substances that they were addicted to.

There were no programs to help restructure a person's life nor was there a social understanding that it was a disease. The addicts were namely seen as selfish persons who lived their life by choice rather then by the truth, which is that in all addicts the luxury that is enjoyed by people who can take or leave a substance is bypassed at some point and becomes a necessity. Only detoxification, or sobering up, and a change in life that offers support for abstenance continually was the proven method for recovery which was attempted in the early 1900's by the oxford group, later evolving to the proven and effective 12 step method I use in my life today. Can we see how old this evil disease really is now? Its much bigger than any one person can imagine. With the re-legalization of alcohol in America after prohabition the size of the disease flourished and has continued to do so "legally" before the eyes of millions who have never had the "itch" to fall victim to it.

Thats not to say that anyone that touches or tries a substance is an addict. That is by no means true. I can say this though from my personal account. Had I never tried or had the option to try alcohol or drugs my addiction may never have been discovered. Thats not to spring up a bunch of 'what if's', whats happened is for a reason. I can only be greatful today for having my Sobriety and following the path that is so freely shown to me by others. The men and women whom have succeeded before me come back everyday to support the newly sober and solidify those with long standing recovery. They do it for no money, no social praise as we are anonymous in what groups we operate, they simply do it because it was done for them. Those first one hundred people who gathered to do this for one another began to do it for others. One city spread to ten, and soon after the whole world was filled with the message of hope. Hope that they too could recover from a hopeless state of mind, body, & spirit.

I want to thank those first 100 that set out to do the work of a power greater than themselves. My higher power as a matter of fact, whom I call God. It doesn't matter what you call it, or if its male, female or for me neither. Its just knowing that something great is out there and it has blessed all of us. Even the sick and suffering, the hopeless addicts like me who got a chance at a second life. My life today would not be the same, I might not have made it this far at the rate I was going. I can only be glad that its 2010 and that recovery is an option for me today. To be outcasted by my family, my tribe, my city or country like was the way ages ago would have meant certain death for me. May we all be greatful for our lives, they aren't so bad today. Look back and appreciate that we are not so unfortunate as our ancestors, our higher power has blessed us with discoveries over the years. Those discoveries are things we take for granted even in "normal" life, not just for addicts. I cannot show enough thanks for the people who have showed me that "WHAT WORKS, WORKS!" For now.. Good Night. Good Mornin... <3 Jimmy