12 steps to where?

What possesses us and binds up keeps us as slaves. Where do you find true freedom at the end of 12 steps? Listen and find who can set you free! Gordon speaks quietly to hearts seeking to be whole. WORTH listening to again and again.700 Club- Gordon Robinson: 7 Days Ablaze - , Sept. 21, 2009

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letter from one who knows | part I

My name is Jeff (changed to protect privacy). I'm a close friend of an "addict" (name removed to protect privacy. It's funny, but I haven't spent a lot of time with him over the years--just when we are CA together for shoots--but his huge heart and soul just sucks you in and you feel as though you've known the man your whole life. So I feel close to "him" for that reason, and also, because I too am in recovery.

I remember the last time I saw "him". It was 4 am in his hotel room nearly 5 years ago. We were both successful in our careers at the time and he remarked how incredible a feat that was. "Look how far we've gone," he remarked, "but neither one of us has ever been 100%. Imagine what we could do if we were 100%?" It was a very insightful moment. One that stuck with me. I got sober soon after.

I've been thinking about "him" a lot over the past couple years. Always asked about him when I saw others that knew and loved him. (And there were many.) But it was as if he fell off the face of the planet. Deep down, I knew he had crawled further into his addictions but I had no way of contacting him. So I googled him a few weeks ago and saw the news stories. It saddened me that addiction can take control of someone even like "him", a man with such heart and soul, and cause him to do things he would never do in a sane state of mind.

Addiction leads to insanity. Then death. And I feared that was where "his" fate led him until I found your blog today. I was so happy to discover that he was alive, and most importantly, in recovery. I would like to help and support him in any way I can. Tell him there is hope. What happened to him was bad, yes. He was humiliated. But that's the lesson of humility. If you don't find humility on your own, the universe will find a way to humiliate you. And then you can begin to recover.

So, please send this message to "him". Let him know I think no less of him for what happened. In fact, I think so much more of him now that he's finally surrendered and is taken that first step towards getting better.