November 17, 2014

Quote of the Week

"Recovery isn't for people who need it; 
it's for people who want it."

After I was sober a while I started thinking about all the people I knew who could really benefit from, and in fact really needed, the recovery I had found in the program. This was especially true of the newcomers who kept relapsing. "They really need this program," I'd say to my sponsor. "Why can't they get it?" 

And that's when he told me that this program isn't for people who need it; it's for people who want it. He said that if everyone who needed this attended meetings we'd have to rent out stadiums, not rooms and dining halls. He told me that only the desperate can become willing enough to do what we do to get what we have. And that's when I thought about my own journey.

 For years I needed recovery, but I still had better ideas. It wasn't until I had hit bottom and was willing to abandon myself to this program that I began to recover. I now understand when someone says to a newcomer, "I wish you desperation," because it is only by hitting bottom that one can go from needing this to wanting it. 

Today I realize that everyone is on their own journey, and that although many may need recovery, until they want it, they won't be able to get it.