It works if you work it...

So many times we have heard these words, only to roll our eyes and say, not again. Cliches like this dot the landscape of recovery, and though always truth, the reminders make us wonder if it is ever going to end.  It won't.

Having had some problems with my back and legs recently, there was a day of relief after I had Physical Therapy. Feeling pretty good, I stopped by the yogurt store to celebrate with a cup of a really great tasting mix. As I felt the joy of the moment, it hit me, that I had just poured fuel on the fire by adding sugar which of course, enhances inflammation, which, of course, causes back and leg pain.

Yes, I am still a recovering addict and alcoholic who needs work. My main defect that haunts me still, is self-destructing after success. I have a few friends in the Bible who struggled with the same problem, David, Solomon, Peter, and others who just couldn't handle continued success and had those moments of self-destruction.

To avoid having more than momentary setbacks that are minor, we who know the capability of a proverbial Dennis The Menace mentality have to keep working some sort of mental program, that is not only spiritual, but is also behavioral. Thus a program like the 12 Steps helps restore us to sanity and it does Work If We Work It. 

We know we will never reach perfection, but we will progress so that any slips we have are minor and not of catastrophic proportion. We are not only a work in progress (no more cliches I promise), but we are also being sharpened by the iron that is chiseled in the Master's fire. 

Well, maybe just one or two more....we learn one simple truth to change....God can do for us what we could not do for ourselves! No more yogurt, I will just keep coming back!