Have carried this card for 30 years now!

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them. – AA Promises

I play this game of sorts with students I advise these days.  I ask them to list the 10 ideal jobs they would like to have today.  We then discuss how to morph the attributes of those 10 jobs into a single position.  The discussion focus now shifts from a job to a career.  Next we consider both the formal and informal education needed to develop the skill set and experience to start on that career path.   I note that the process may take a lifetime with many shifts and complete changes along the road.  That is a career is a process, not an event.

Naysayers to this approach might argue that I am setting students up for failure – that there are economic and market limitations that prevent such unlimited possibilities.  I consider those nattering nabobs of negativism to be dream stealers or dream killers.  This cynical view, if replaced by a plan of action, will demonstrate that we certainly can move toward that ideal career.

I find that recovery is much the same.  The AA Promises might seem completely unattainable to the person fresh into abstinence from their addiction.  But there are a myriad of recovery programs, including of the 12-step variety that work well for me, that offer a plan to reach those goals.  I am convinced that if I do the work, based on my experience, strength, and hope, living into an ideal recovery is not only possible but the very likely result.  That too is truly a process and not an event.