Blog entry for:

of Tradition Eleven is not a topic i consider very often in my personal recovery program. in fact, if i were to be totally honest, i would have to say that i almost NEVER consider it as part of living a program of active recovery, and yet, there it hangs, day after day, in my real life, in meetings and in my service commitments, attraction rather than promotion. heck, even here, i do my best to be an attractive member of my fellowship and do not promote it, even though i really, really, really have the desire to do so. i am clean, doing my best to carry what keeps me clean out into the real world. no matter how much i want to help every addict have a chance at recovery, i also know that when i was getting clean, the “soft sell” of attraction was more welcoming than the hype of promotion and when push came to shove, it brought me into the fellowship that has given me a new manner of living.
i was about to lay down and take a nap when i remembered i had not put down in words what i heard over the course of today. it is true that i got four and a half miles of hiking in before i went to my home group and met with a sponsee before lunch. that does not, however excuse me from taking care of myself by letting go of whatever happened to be put on my mind when i read the source material this morning. as i sat, there was not a whole lot going on. as i read the news and got ready to get out for a bit of climbing, what kept popping up was the notion that maybe, if we were less circumspect in who we are and what we offer, we might reach more of those who are still suffering in the throes of active addiction. each time i consider that as a possibility, i look to the celebrities who have come out about getting clean and made a big deal of it, only to very publicly relapse. i see that each and every time that happens, it seems to signal to the world, that this stuff just does not work and an addict, all addicts, will never, ever be able to stay clean and participate in “polite” society. when i add that evidence to the fact that i know lots of addicts who are clean, because they live this program, i know that attraction by living clean is a much better lure than promotion though living large.
anyhow, just for today, i have done what i set out to do and as a reward, i am going to take a little nap. it is the weekend after all and i have no responsibilities left to fulfill. i am grateful that i was attracted to a place where i could build long term recovery and figure out how to do this life thing, just for today.

∞ DT ∞