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Addiction Recovery is not Passive

There is a big push in the world today to develop passive income. The advertisements to develop passive income can be seen all over social media, news outlets, and folks just talking about it. For those who don’t know, passive income is an income stream that brings in money with minimal effort. It basically requires a little investment up front and then it runs itself. This idea of passive income made me think of addiction and addiction recovery. Addiction is similar to passive income. Addiction starts small, with a little ‘investment’. Then it begins to build. The addiction develops into something bigger and bigger. Soon enough, it’s a raging monster that is out of control. Addiction recovery, however, is not passive at all. Addiction recovery takes effort and determination. Addiction recovery takes consistent, daily effort no matter where you are along the addiction recovery journey. This realization that addiction recovery is not passive didn’t click for me for some time. I just e
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Where can I turn to?

A common question I had before I started my addiction recovery journey was where can I turn to for peace? I had landed in a place where all I wanted was peace, and I could not find it. I had learned to turn to the thing that was driving me to destruction. Pornography was not bringing me peace. It was leading me to absolute hell. I didn’t really know where to turn to. What I didn’t realize was it wasn’t a question of where to turn to. It was a question of who can I turn to? One of my favorite hymns, “Where can I Turn for Peace?” , provides an answer to that question. In verse 2, we read, “Where, when my aching grows, Where, when I languish, Where, in my need to know, where can I run? Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish? Who, who can understand? He, only One.” The who that we can all turn to is Jesus Christ. If you were like me, the thought of turning to Jesus Christ was daunting. The idea of getting support from Jesus Christ was scary. I honestly thought I was too far gone to b
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How do I keep the changes I’ve made during my journey?

The largest organism in the world isn’t exactly what you think. I know for me, I always thought something like the blue whale was the largest organism in the world. Can you imagine my surprise when I learned one of the largest organisms in the world is my home state of Utah! There is an aspen grove in central Utah next to Fish Lake named Pando . This grove of aspen trees is thousands of years old and spans 108 acres. One of the many reasons why this grove of aspen trees has lasted so long is it’s root system. Under the ground, all the roots are intertwined together. So when storms and winds come through the valley, each tree anchors another tree. So in all reality, the only way to blow down one tree is to blow them all over. It is easy to see how Pando’s strength has come from the storms and winds affecting it. Let’s consider one tree in the aspen grove. As a storm comes through, the tree will recognize it needs to grow a thicker trunk to withstand the wind. Additionally, since the tr
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What next?

    Personal revelation is an important part of addiction recovery. Throughout all the steps there is a need to listen to the Holy Ghost and truly understand what is being taught. When I think back to the steps before step 11, I can see where listening to the Holy Ghost and acting on those promptings truly helped me find sobriety. There were several times while I was writing my moral inventory that I did or did not want to write something down. In those situations, I was able to rely on the Holy Ghost to help me know what I should and should not write down. In step 6 and step 7, we are invited to identify negative characteristics and become willing to give them to God. This requires an inward look that only the Holy Ghost can provide. Once a characteristic is identified, relying on the Holy Ghost to teach you how to give up those characteristics is necessary and needful. I cannot begin to explain how much I needed the Holy Ghost to teach me how to give up characteristics like pride and
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Constantly Checking Our Bearings

     Boy Scouts were an essential part of my childhood. I loved going to scouts and participating in the many merit badges. One such merit badge that I enjoyed was orienteering. The orienteering merit badge aims to teach scouts to be great at using compasses for navigation. [ 1 ]      During one such training, I recall a leader teaching us about choosing landmarks as we took bearings. He said to ensure we identified noticeable, stationary objects that we could always look toward and see. He added that we shouldn't select objects that were not noticeable or stationary. The example he used was an eagle in a tree. He pointed out that although the eagle was noticeable, there was a chance the eagle might fly away. We learned to look for landmarks we would always notice and could ensure would not move.     This lesson I learned in orienteering applies to addiction recovery as well. There is a landmark that I have learned I can orient to and know I am headed in the right direction. This l
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The balancing act of making amends

The Balancing Act      A huge part of addiction recovery is making amends. The habits, characteristics, and traits learned while participating in addiction are harmful to the individual and hard for everyone around them. Ripples in water after throwing a stone are an excellent way to visualize this phenomenon. Our actions have ripples. These ripples affect the lives of those around us.      Making amends is an act of faith and quite the balancing act. Caution and action must be balanced in this effort to make amends with those hurt by our actions. When caution and action are balanced, the addict has spent time on their knees praying with God and consulting with trusted advisors on how to reach out and make amends. When caution and action are not balanced, efforts become impulsive and careless or they become procrastinated. In my recovery journey, I have experienced both of these. Being Impulsive and Careless     I remember talking to my sponsor early in my recovery journey. We were wor
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Blink First!

    I watched a lot of westerns growing up. Something about the old west fascinated me! In almost every western I watched there was the infamous stand off between the hero and the villain. These stand offs were classic! The hero and the villain would stare at each other. The close up of their eyes and how stony they looked. One would always say something to get at the other. One of my favorite stand off lines came from The Outlaw Josey Wells . The hero looked at four other guys he's having a stand off with and says, "Are you going to pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?" As you can imagine, the four guys 'blink' and Josey wins the fight.     Before I started my journey, I have encountered similar stand offs. I had been hurt by people in my past and hadn't learned to forgive them. Several of the people that had hurt me were people I had hurt as well. In my mind, before the my journey, it was stand off. I wasn't going to blink first. I blinked first, they wo
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