In all aspects and every area of life if we are to get from our starting point to a destination there must be a path we take. if we do not choose a path we will not move from where we are at and if we do not choose the correct path we will not end up where we hoped we would end up. Having said that, moving is just the beginning of the journey, and making sure we are following a proven path helps us along the journey.
As you know, I am primarily a product of Alcoholics Anonymous and the plan of recovery that is laid out in the first 164 pages of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Within those 164 pages, are the twelve steps of recovery, which I recommend for everyone. It is not that you necessarily must follow this path, but I would submit to you that almost every plan out there has foundationally these twelve steps written into it. It does not matter to me if you are one of the five monotheist religions of the world, a naturalist, a Buddhist, or another approach to wellness. Every one of these paths laid out by the above-mentioned beliefs is going to have a path that they not only recommend but insist you follow. It is not that they want to control you any more than Alcoholics Anonymous wants to control me. The point is we are lost, we have no direction and if something does not change our addiction is going to kill us. To break it down to its lowest common denominator, we either follow a proven path or suffer the consequences of increasingly debilitating addiction. Robert Fritz authored the book entitled “the path of least resistance.” This is the path that we take on our destructive addiction journey. We are always looking for a way that does not confront us and our addiction. As this path may offer the least amount of resistance at the moment, it is surely a path of destruction overall. Once again, going back to the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, it reads “over any considerable period, things get worse never better.”
Therefore, we must set ourselves on a proven path and follow this path as religiously as we drank alcohol and or used drugs. Without this degree of diligence, we will revert to the destructive path that the least resistance brings to us. It was Einstein who said we cannot use the same thinking that got us into our present situation to get us out of that situation and into a new one. Keeping that in mind I need to get off the path that I was on and get onto a proven path that I have seen like individuals take and become successful while following that path. this is one of the reasons that having a sponsor or a mentor or a spiritual guide can come to our aid. These are usually individuals who have followed and our and our journeying the path that we are following. If you have ever hired a guide to take you through property or a jungle or any type of expedition it will be a person who knows that path and can safely guide you along the way. You would not want a person who has never traveled that path to lead you, because there is no guarantee you will get to where you want to end up. As a person with over 35 years of personal recovery, I want you to know I am still following the path. My sponsor/mentor has been on this same path for 42 years. I still look to him as a person of experience and a mentor as I travel this road. I am not suggesting that you embark on anything that I have not and do not continue to journey along my path to the recovered life. Once again, the path you choose is not as relevant as it is that you choose a path. I do believe we should choose a path that we have seen others be successful in. Once we choose that path, we follow that path as diligently as we would take our next breath. Without that next breath, we would die. If you are an alcoholic like I am an alcoholic and do not follow the path you will die. I cannot begin to tell you of all the joy I have in this life that I live. What I can tell you is I am where I am because of following the path that others followed before me. Be blessed on your journey. I look forward to meeting you along the way.
Robert Pardon
Robert is the Recovery Guy. Getting clean and sober on April 25, 1986 has given me the insight and practical skill set to not only stay sober, but to also re-invent myself to the person I always wanted to become. Showing others how to do this is my life goal.
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