For recovery to work, people must be empowered
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”— Alice Walker |
Before discovering LifeRing Secular Recovery, I wondered why traditional recovery plans required sober-seeking individuals to admit they are powerless. Even the strict religion of my youth touted owning my choices because I made them, regardless of whether the outcomes of those choices were positive or negative. So why would I need a power outside myself to choose not to drink when I had never relied on an external power to make the decisions to drink too much in the first place?
Empowerment is a lot like autonomy. A person who uses autonomy is in control of the important things that affect them. Being with other empowered individuals at LifeRing meetings is truly invigorating.
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The LifeRing 3-S philosophy helped me realize that I could empower my sober self. Maybe it was finally being ready to change or perhaps the right message came at the right time. Either way, it was like flipping a switch that turned powerlessness off, while turning empowerment on. The connections I’ve made through LifeRing keeps that current flowing.
Now I choose empowerment over powerlessness every day of the year.
Lorraine
LifeRing member since 2013