Addiction Recovery is like a Fire!

I serve the young men in my ward here in Utah. Last night, the activity was teaching the young men how to build a fire. It was very interesting to see how the boys approached their fire building. Some took the time to start with small kindling, others threw everything they could in a pile and hoped for the best.

Then the moment of truth came: it was time to light the fires. The leader who was leading the activity struck a match, applied it to the fire, and his fire took off. The young men were amazed and excited! Then each young man took two matches, and tried to start their fires. Each fire started, but fizzled out quickly. Each young man was disappointed and realized they had made some mistakes in building their fire.

The biggest thing each boy realized was they didn’t start with the small, light kindling first. Some boys did, but didn’t allow for appropriate oxygen flow to the kindling. We talked about why it is important to start with small, light kindling first. The young men all began to see if the small stuff started, they could apply something a bit bigger - like small sticks. They larger sticks. Soon, logs could be applied to the fire and the fire would burn for a long time.

During this entire activity, I couldn’t help but see the connection between building a fire and addiction recovery. When addiction recovery is built right, it can burn for a very long time! Similar to building a good fire, addiction recovery needs to start with small, light kindling like things. These items are daily prayer, scripture study, attending group meetings, and journaling. As those activities are mastered, bigger activities like moral inventories and giving up character weaknesses. These bigger activities lead to seeking forgiveness from others and then giving of yourself to serve others.

Fires, real and symbolic alike, have to start with the small things first. The small things lead to a lasting fire and form the foundation that true recovery can be built on.