Daily Accountability: The first maintenance step

On my recovery journey, I can honestly say much of my effort has been in the first 9 steps. Developing faith in Jesus Christ, meeting with a sponsor, meeting with bishops, and making amends are time-intensive. I often daydreamed of what my life would be like on the other side of the first 9 steps. To my surprise, life after the first 9 steps was like my life during the first 9 steps. 

Let me give you one example. While I was meeting with my sponsor to discuss my progress, I noticed my sponsor get a look on his face. He asked for a quick moment, wrote something down, pulled out his phone, and shot off a text. I inquired what he had done. He smiled and told me he remembered something he had done in the past. He recognized he needed forgiveness for it and wrote down the name of the individual he needed to connect with to make amends. 

I was taken aback. In a matter of minutes, my sponsor had done steps 4-9. I couldn't believe it. It had taken me days, and sometimes weeks, to work through my past. Yet, I just watched my sponsor do it in a matter of minutes! I asked him how he did it, and that is when I learned the beauty of step 10.

Similar to the other steps, step 10 is a call to action - very quick action. Instead of letting my actions go unnoticed for months, or even years, the invitation of step 10 is to act quickly. If I did something wrong, I should correct it as soon as possible. If someone wronged me, I should seek the guidance of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to be able to forgive them. If I am unsure of something, then I should, again, seek out my Savior, Jesus Christ, to learn what I should do.

As I have learned about step 10, I have really learned step 10 is a commitment to live the first 9 steps throughout my life. It is not the easiest thing to do, but I am learning when I am prompted and act quickly, God blesses me with strength and encouragement to complete the task I am being prompted to do. When I choose to not act quickly, the chances are extremely likely I will not do as I'm prompted and I will definitely miss out on blessings and opportunities the Lord wants to send my way.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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
Read more

Be ready to pivot

  In my addiction recovery journey, I have learned the ability to pivot when I feel inspired by the Holy Ghost to do something. This ability to pivot is essential to not only addiction recovery but to life in general. A favorite example of mine in the scriptures is about the man, Gideon. A disciple of God, Gideon was called upon to lead an army against the Midianites. After gathering a powerful army, Gideon was told that he needed to reduce his force. After two trials, Gideon’s force of ten’s of thousands was reduced to 300 men. Why did the Lord reduce Gideon’s numbers? The Lord taught Gideon that he reduced the force to show that he, the Great Jehovah, was responsible for the victory. ( Judges 7 ) Being able to pivot is an act of faith and trust in Christ. I learned this the hard way many times. I recall many times in my life when I felt prompted to avoid a situation. The situation wasn’t sexual in nature but it was dangerous. He is how those situations usually played out. I would fe
Read more

Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good

 Great mentors and leaders have a profound impact on those they interact with. One such mentor and leader would use a phrase that has stayed with me. The phrase went as follows: “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good”. When I first heard this phrase, I was confused. I had always strived for building the perfect product or analysis. This leader explained the goal of every project was to improve the client’s outcome, not produce the ideal solution. I caught hold of this vision and began to execute against it. My work improved. My focus improved. My outcomes were better. More importantly, the clients I served started to have better outcomes. I began to see this phrase impact my life more than in the work sense. My thoughts began to turn to my addiction recovery journey. I found myself focusing on the perfect outcome. I was focused on that ‘perfect day’ when I had nailed the perfect outcome. I was so focused on finding the perfect solution that I didn’t allow myself to see the good im
Read more