Last week I began a two part blog on Giving Back and Being of Service. If you missed it you can go to that post here and read it. If not, let me be brief in its description. I coach a softball team that’s done incredibly well this year and they will be headed to the Softball World Series, and one of the players, the heart of the team, started using crystal methamphetamine before the season began. We gathered as a team to address the problem, sans him because he’d not shown up for the game, and possibly sending him to drug treatment.
As we gathered in a circle, the feeling of the final victory still sweet in our hearts, we sat and began discussing him for the first time. The numbers of times I’ve participated in something like this have been emotional, heartfelt, and confusing times for friends and loved ones of the active addict. It’s sometimes hard to describe as the emotions fill the spectrum. Mostly though, there is concern. And, one of the best parts is that people speak about their experiences with the addict. They tell their story and the pieces come together.
What we find? People keep secrets to help the active addict. They honestly think they are helping but in fact are enabling.
So, the stories came together. One piece we found out? the teammate relaying his experience through tears, was that the addict had given him a list of numbers to call when they’d roomed together on a tournament. The teammate had looked at the list of numbers and next to each number was a name and why he should call that number in various situations. So, in short: if the teammate came back to the room and found him passed out and breathing, he should call one number; mumbling incoherently, another number; non-responsive, another number. The addict had left his life in the hands of another person so that the addict didn’t need to be responsible for his usage.
These are the stories, the situations that come to life once people come together. We also find out about other people’s experiences with addiction, their own or a loved one. We also find out that people have an opinion, they care about what happens to their friend and they are mostly relieved that at least the topic been broached.
I’ve decided at this point to add a third part to this blog: Don’t Throw In the Towel.
Recovery Rob BIO
Recovery Rob is a 48-year-old man who has more than twenty years of sobriety, whose drugs of choice at one time were alcohol and drugs, and he has worked in and around the field of addiction for more than 30 years. Having just recently launched his own website, www.askrecoveryrob.com, he hopes to reach out and continue to help others who work through their process of addiction and recovery. Recovery Rob is a professional writer who has published two novels and is currently working on his third. He has been writing and working as Pat Moore Foundation’s premiere blogger and content writer, which helps keeps Pat Moore Foundation’s addiction and recovery blog top-rated.