What's In Your Pocket?

,After back to back meetings where I handed out coins and tokens to mark recovery time, I thought about explaining just exactly why we do this. To some it may seem very childish but in reality it is a simple way of marking progress. Because folks are coming back from so far away, these "chips" represent the days/months since they decided to quit drinking/using and are often the last defense to a relapse. 

Sounds strange? Please let me explain. For years a woman in our group spoke of how she took her keys to go get in the car to go to a bar to ease her pain after about a year clean. When she looked at them before putting the key in the ignition, she saw the key chain we gave her for 9 months clean, and it made her think, is this worth giving up all that time?

Tonight a man spoke of how the footprints and praying hands medallions played a major part in his 60 days clean, and I thought immediately What's In Your Pocket? What do any of us carry around to remind us to stay on a good path? Maybe a cross, maybe a key chain with a picture of a loved one, or one of these recovery tokens that we cling to so mercifully when tempted.

They don't cost much, but these mementos save a whole lot. That's why when you see someone pick up a year or more, you stand and cheer because you know the battles they've had to face. When you count up at least a half dozen other chips they have picked up to get there, you can see the impact that this simple reward system has. It is a milestone that put together represents 8,760 hours of sober living.

To a recovering addict that is an eternity worked 365 days one day at a time, often seconds at a time, just to stay clean and not do anything destructive. When you reach in that pocket and feel that $2 token, it becomes a reminder that you have worked way too hard to turn back now.

It's not worth anything in a pawn shop, but it's a million dollar token when it saves your life!