“…steel your spirit and brace it against whatever threatens. For the only safe harbor in this life’s tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and...

“…steel your spirit and brace it against whatever threatens.  For the only safe harbor in this life’s tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and to stand ready and confident, squaring the breast to take without skulking or flinching whatever fortune hurls at us.”  --Seneca

Life is unpredictable.  Life can be cruel.  If you accept the truth of both of these statements, then you must understand that you are potentially subject to unforeseen and unfortunate developments.   We all are.  For the recovering alcoholic/addict, it is particularly important to recognize the habit of Fortune to do as she pleases.  The future does need heed or whims and is not tamed by our hopes.  If you wish to be as insulated as possible from the unknown struggle ahead, you must be prepared in body, mind, and spirit, to bear whatever you can imagine, and possibly more.

We addicts have a particular challenge in navigating oceans of unknown future occurrences.  Our journey must be undertaken in sobriety, else we are lost.  Accordingly, it is paramount we develop an unshakeable and inviolate command to ourselves:  I will not pick up for any reason.  In other words, I will allow nothing to cause me to drink or use again.  That is the only insurance we have that whatever problems or misfortune may be headed our way, we can meet it with clear minds and our full faculties.

I have seen many of our fellows succumb to relapse over job stress, marital woes, financial strain, grief over the loss of a loved one, etc.  It is terrible to witness this because the individual who returns to active addiction plunges him or herself into a greater torrent of misery than the inciting problem alone would have been.  That person is then also deprived of the confidence he or she could achieve with coming through that situation sober, difficult as it may be.

Whether or not the individual in recovery is working a 12-Step program, sobriety will necessarily involve squaring up to life’s challenges.  They have to be faced directly and with clarity.  We very frequently find that we are better equipped than we could have ever imagined to deal with past traumas, present unease, and fears about the future when we are thinking clearly and making rational decisions.  Ignoring our problems or attempting to escape with the numbness and distraction of intoxication solves nothing.  Our resilience is forged by our experience.  Some things, you just have to go through.  Some feelings, you just have to feel.  These are facts of life.  Dear Reader, you are stronger than you think.  You will know it when you face your problems and address them relying on the strength you have and the support you will have from those who truly care about you.