New City….New Recovery
Ten weeks ago I moved from Houston to Boerne, Texas. Most people in Houston would give their right arm to live in the Hill Country and fortunately my husband and I were blessed with this opportunity. I love the small town, the beautiful landscape, the people and the clean air. So what’s the problem?? Oh my goodness, I am starting my program of recovery all over again! In the beginning I judged the meetings—“they aren’t doing it right”. Also, I was used to knowing people at just about every meeting I went to in central Houston; nobody knows me here. Needless to say, I was out of sorts.
About 4 weeks after the move, a friend of mine in California had a friend of his call me. She had moved from California to Houston. The first thing she said to me is “the meetings in Houston are terrible; they are doing it all wrong.” I died laughing; she sounded just like me! I realized then that the truth is most people are not doing it “wrong”, just different. I got sober in Houston just like people are getting and staying sober in Boerne. It is my responsibility to create the “new normal”, to find the people working the 12 Steps and stick with them, to try all different meetings and maybe, just maybe, be open minded and willing to embrace a new perspective. So, after nine years I have become a newcomer again. I have a new sponsor and I am working the Steps 1 through 12 in a way I never have. I don’t know it all and I am grateful for the journey.
If you are moving to a new city or are just coming home from treatment and AA is “wrong” to you, I challenge you to not let your ego get in the way of your recovery and trust the same Higher Power that got you sober wherever you started.
(Source: lahacienda.com)
