Opportunities: taken, or missed?
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Join Date: Dec 2013
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Opportunities: taken, or missed?
Sometimes, people suffering from alcoholism will say: "what's the point of getting sober? I don't have a good job, or a path to getting one. All my friends drink - I don't have any sober friends. I can't get a date. I have two DUIs. It's pointless - I might as well drink."
These people often imagine what their life will be like if they stop drinking, and the only change they can see is "I'll be sober - so things will be just as crappy as they are now, but now I won't even get to drink". They think that even if they stop drinking, they will still be stuck in the same position that they are in now. But what these people don't see - because they are impossible to see - are the countless opportunities that present themselves every day. It's hard to predict golden opportunities, because they often happen by chance. But do you think that more positive opportunities present themselves to you when you've been drinking, or when you're sober? Of course it's when you're sober.
Here's an example. This past weekend I went for a run with a local running group. While there, I met a guy who was in my same line of work, working for a really great local company. After a long talk he gave me his email address and asked me to send him my resume. He told me he'd personally hand it to the right person. So I made a new sober friend, and I have a potential "in" for a good job. And I got in a healthy run to boot!
If I had spent Saturday drinking instead of running with my local running group, would I have had access to this opportunity? No. Would I have even known about this opportunity? Of course not. Maybe I would have thought it's just another Saturday in a life going nowhere. But it wasn't. It was another Saturday filled with potential opportunities just like every other Saturday, or like every other day I choose to spend sober.
So whenever people start to ask, "what's the point?", remind them that while you might not see huge changes in your life, when you choose sobriety those opportunities for huge changes are going to start presenting themselves. When they do, you're going to want to be in a position to go after them. That's the point!
These people often imagine what their life will be like if they stop drinking, and the only change they can see is "I'll be sober - so things will be just as crappy as they are now, but now I won't even get to drink". They think that even if they stop drinking, they will still be stuck in the same position that they are in now. But what these people don't see - because they are impossible to see - are the countless opportunities that present themselves every day. It's hard to predict golden opportunities, because they often happen by chance. But do you think that more positive opportunities present themselves to you when you've been drinking, or when you're sober? Of course it's when you're sober.
Here's an example. This past weekend I went for a run with a local running group. While there, I met a guy who was in my same line of work, working for a really great local company. After a long talk he gave me his email address and asked me to send him my resume. He told me he'd personally hand it to the right person. So I made a new sober friend, and I have a potential "in" for a good job. And I got in a healthy run to boot!
If I had spent Saturday drinking instead of running with my local running group, would I have had access to this opportunity? No. Would I have even known about this opportunity? Of course not. Maybe I would have thought it's just another Saturday in a life going nowhere. But it wasn't. It was another Saturday filled with potential opportunities just like every other Saturday, or like every other day I choose to spend sober.
So whenever people start to ask, "what's the point?", remind them that while you might not see huge changes in your life, when you choose sobriety those opportunities for huge changes are going to start presenting themselves. When they do, you're going to want to be in a position to go after them. That's the point!
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