Which road will YOU choose?

OK, before I start, two things: I didn't add an entry last night, because I was being a good boy & went to bed early (for me) to get a good night's rest for today's activities, which will be explained more fully below. Second, if you had not noticed, my previous blog titles have been lifted song lyrics that reflect (or I have to make reflect) the subject of the current entry; not so with this one. Now, moving on . . .

So, I have made a few (not so) subtle references to a major change that I have made in my life in just the past year; have you figured out what it is yet? (Family members, DO NOT CHEAT HERE!)

OK, so as to not keep you guessing, on May 29, 2009, I will have been sober from alcohol for one year.

This is a very, VERY big deal for me. As you may have guessed by the above statement, I am an addict. Alcohol is but the most critical of my substances of abuse. I am also addicted to cigarettes, shopping of a sort, driving fast, the TV show "Heroes," the Harry Potter books/movies, just about anything Sci-Fi, boxed sets of things, Swatch watches, oh the list goes on & on.

In my recovery, I have been an active participant in an organization named LifeRing (see profile). For those of you who have not heard of it, it is a secular recovery organization, with some very simple precepts: Our primary goal, & our number one priority in life, is to remain abstinent from addictive substances of abuse, NO MATTER WHAT. That is what we call, our Sobriety Priority. It is a self-driven, self-help recovery organization, in which we do not practice any steps, have sponsors, or (necessarily) rely on any other power than our own initiative, will, desire, & commitment to remain free of addictive, mind-altering substances. Those who "lead"our meetings are called "conveners;" from the Latin "con" or with, and "venir" to come. In other words, they bring us together to come with them on the path to sobriety.

This is not a capital "P" program; it is a lower case "p" program, in that, each individual in recovery customizes his own program, to his own needs, tastes, & requirements (before I go further, please excuse the gender-specific term use here; I have no wish to offend). So, some of our members also attend 12-step meetings; if it helps, GO FOR IT! Some meditate; if it works, KEEP IT UP! I, myself, choose to do neither of those things, for my own specific reasons, which I may address in another blog sometime in the future, if I am in a ranting kind of mood.

The idea here is to empower ourselves, & each other, on our individual paths, supporting each other with positive reinforcement & feedback. We do not judge anyone else's path; how can we? What brought me to my addiction is not the same as anybody else's; who can tell me what the "best" means is to maintain MY sobriety better than me? Only I know my past, only I can try to see what (mis)steps I took in that past that brought me to where I am today. On the one hand, obviously, some were good steps, otherwise, I wouldn't be alive to be sharing this with you today. On the other hand, again obviously, some were not so good, but I had to make my own mistakes, to determine what didn't work, & what might be possible alternatives for the future. Again, only I can make those determinations.

So, moving on to this weekend: This weekend is the annual LifeRing Expo and Congress. The Expo part was today, & I together with a woman from one of my meetings hosted a workshop/forum on substance abuse, addiction & recovery in the GLBTQQI community. Prior to that, I attended a workshop/forum on what being a convener is all about, because . . . you guessed it, that is one of the next steps I have chosen on my recovery path (whether or not it will be a mis remains to be seen). Unfortunately, due to other responsibilities (like making money, something I have not been doing much of lately), I had to leave after that to come home & work. But not before something else, slightly more important, came up & landed in my lap. Something which, as usual, instead of going "EEEEEWW!" & pushing off my lap, I picked up, & started looking at, & thinking about what to do with it.

You see, unlike that other recovery program, the extremely well-known one, we do not have a very large membership . . . yet. I am not good at guessing numbers in crowds or groups (I am a bean-counter type in that regard), so I won't hazard a guess. But the recurring theme (at least as I saw it) in both meetings was "Outreach." How do we increase our membership? How do we get the word out as to who we are & what we are about? How do we reach other addicts for whom those other programs do not work, or have not worked in the past? We don't claim to be any better, more successful, or anything like that, but we are different!

In other words, we need PR, or rather more PR!

Which, according to one of those online personality profile questionnaires that purports to tell you what line of work you are best suited for, is apparently right up my alley! And so, guess what, I volunteered.

As I pointed out, at one juncture, what we need is a "hook," a "pitch," a "slogan" if you will; something simple, direct, & easy to recall, but draws people in & start asking questions. And again, guess what? I may have come up with it. At least the folks I tossed it out to liked it. I'll share it in a while.

Once on that subject, of course, my little brain just started to churn away, & the ideas started coming, "& thick & fast they came at last, & more & more & MORE!" (Ten points if you recognize that quote). In fact, in the 45 or so minutes it took me to get home, I had to sit down three times to make notes about these various ideas. Probably looked kinda funny to passersby, but who cares?

One or two people expressed concerns about copyright infringement, which I will double check on, but hey, who doesn't borrow ideas? You tell me, who has come up with a single, completely original idea since the wheel? Huh? TELL ME, I WANNA KNOW MISTER!

So, without further ado, but with a minor preamble here it is:

Bill W., co-founder of that other program, said in his "big book" that "The roads to recovery are legion," or some such.

If so, which road will YOU choose?

Catchy, huh?

Oh &, by the way, this is not going to turn into a blog just about recovery; if it were to do so, I might come across as pretty one-dimensional which, again I assure you, I am NOT! But I will probably insert a warning at the top to let you know if that's what it's going to be about.

Y'all come back now, hear?