Mike is a 33-year-old musician. He has been in the music business since age 12. He says he was strung out on crack, cocaine and did heroin while in his late teens thru his early 20’s. With his band, he cut a single at age 16. He was part of a group that did over a million dollars in royalties. He said in his In These Rooms share that none of his music success filled the hole in his soul. “…I’ve had the women, fame and the money but I’m still just a drug addict and alcoholic…I’ve done those damn steps over and fucking over. What I want to know is when will those damn promises come true in my fucking life?”
Promise 12 of the Big Book In These Rooms states “…we will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves…”
“…I am not where I want to be, Maan, but I’m not where I was. I’m still about money. My love and attachment to material and financial stuff does not completely change overnight, I know I am a work in progress. I’m learning the real meaning of progress not perfection and to take one day at a time. This work is simple but it ain’t easy.”
Sean Anderson
“…I sometimes struggle with knowing where I am going in life. I sometimes struggle with doubt about how I will get there. I’ve come along way. I have a long way to go. I glad I am where I am today.”
X
“I’m learning there is power in letting go. Sometimes I struggle with the negativity from the past and past hurts. I know this is key to being free and finding the joy of laughter but I struggle with forgiving, especially forgiving myself.”
Yalie
Mike, you said you have worked the Steps many times. Step 12 in the Big Book of Recovery states in part “…having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps…”
“Promises. Promises. I’ve learned putting Him first is key to their materialization. That might seem like a contradiction but my Higher Power is God is all and in all. This reality includes the material aspects of life. The promises in and thru Him can also be found in all things, the material and the spiritual, the good and the bad.”
The Professor
“Promises. Promises mean I don’t let trouble or being in trouble get my ass down. Promises mean I am His and He is mine. Promises mean I don’t gotta; I get to fuckin be me. I hold to this peace in all things. The rest of that life shit will take care of itself.”
Fr. Esteban
“Experience, strength and hope are my story and my joy today. Today, I know freedom from and freedom to. I know freedom from being in bondage to the past. I know freedom from seeing the past as a tale of victimization. I know freedom to tell my story and share my authentic lived truth without fear of man or the things of man. I know the freedom to be radically vulnerable by trusting in Him and His Promises.”
Hunter
Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of working these Steps, Mike, that’s when the book says shit goes down. That’s when we stop regretting the past. That’s when we start making something of the past and the present that is meaningful and important for the future. When will the shit happen Mike?
When will life start to be what we always wanted and needed? When will people, places and things cease to trouble us and instead be for us the empowering blessings God has placed in our lives? Promises Promises. I can’t predict your when, Mike, but I have found and truly believe the shit happens when we acknowledge He is the source of everything good, powerful and even meaningful in my life. I’ve often heard it said In These Rooms “…God is Everything or God is Nothing…”
When I walked out of that jail in Palm Beach Florida on another grand theft auto case, I knew not where I was going next but I trusted in God. When I was 40 years old, living with my sister and sleeping on her couch, my teenage son came to visit us. I was ashamed of the situation I was in and that my son had to see me living like that. I was ashamed to have him see me that far down. I am thankful today that even in that moment, with all the guilt, shame and remorse, I still had the understanding “…God is good. All the time…”
When do the Promises, the Promises materialize in our lives, Mike? I say when we have that spiritual awakening of Step 12 and come to realize the truth of Promise 12, “…God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves…” This is when the Promises, the Promises happen, Mike. Sorry Bro. Then and not Before.
Read more about X, Yalie, Fr. Esteban, the Professor, Sean Anderson and Hunter and tell your story. Listen to Hunter’s Podcast. All on wreckedamerica.com. In Wrecked America, #PromisesMatters
The Struggle Continues….
