I've heard it said that if faith without works is
dead, then willingness without action is fantasy. Real action is
required for anything of substance to be achieved. This "substance" can be
good or bad; positive or negative. I took a lot of action to drink the way
I did for all the years I did. It was a lot of work and required enormous
amounts of energy to be put forth. I had to arrange when, where, what, and
with whom I would be drinking. I had to make arrangements, cover the
accommodations, get the money,
get to the destinations, get the drink, get home, try to remember, recover, cover my
tracks, get back on track, and then make the next set of arrangements. And
on and on...
The self-centered life I used to lead was a fantasy.
Most of my circumstances and sentiments were artificial and fleeting. I
was living on fantasy island...that's "fantasy I land"...
my land.
It was all about me and what I wanted, and what great lengths I would go to get
it. The root word of willingness is will. And when we choose
to run our lives by our own will, separate from God's will for us, we often make
decisions that come with costly consequences.
Recovery can also be a fantasy land without
purposeful and spirit-led actions taken to change a person's thinking and way of
living. It requires showing up, listening, talking and walking the
talk ongoing. It may seem daunting at first, but
if a fraction of the effort that was put into getting
wasted was put into getting well, then authentic recovery would be unavoidable.
Just as needing
to and wanting
to are different; being willing and really doing are different as well. I
no longer live on fantasy island. Today, though far from perfect, life is
much more manageable and meaningful. And that is the true and lasting
benefit of any program of action in recovery!
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