"Aren't We All"

The whole “one day at a time” is a fantastic principle and really it makes so much sense not only in recovery but in life as well. I had heard this term prior to entering recovery but really paid it no attention. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Keith Olberman who would state in response to a sports player getting injured and their prognosis was “day to day”; Mr. Olberman would say, “Aren’t we all.” This would make me laugh well before I entered recovery and now it is very poignant. I do believe everyone is “day to day” and really “moment to moment” since nothing is guaranteed. These are building blocks in the early stages of my recovery now they are the tenets of my recovery which allows me to face life with head held high and a positive attitude.

I like to take this concept to my business dealings and today I started cultivating business relationships one step at a time. I would love to have all the people I needed to speak with in one room at one time which would save an enormous amount of time but then I would miss those moments that occurred today. Today I sat down with a person who I had never met before and we spent 45 minutes talking about recovery. I don’t believe this other person was in recovery but this other person certainly understood recovery very well because they had been dealing with people who fight with their addictions on a daily basis. We also covered the topic of parenting and my goodness we were on the same wavelength.

This was my first face to face encountered with someone in my new position and if this is any indication of things to come I am certainly in the right position. I am technically not selling anything I am just spreading awareness of our company and if someone has a need for a recovery center be it inpatient or outpatient services we can fit that need. I have a wonderful job of sitting down with people and telling them about our services. I am not a big talker and I am more of a listener which is what I did this morning. I went through our services and one thing lead to another and I was listening most of the time we spent together.

In the past 20 years I pretty much sat behind a desk and crunched numbers as an accountant and auditor. This is something I went to college for and the only reason I chose this field was due to the fact that I did so well in Accounting I and II. I figured I could get a job out of college and I was correct. As my career progressed I climbed the “company ladder” and my career was going well. I had that “dirty little secret” which was my undoing but now I realize I want more out of life and this does not constitute crunching.

As I moved up the company ladder and my career progressed I found myself the “go to” person in the office. People would come to me with their problems and I would just sit and listen. Of course I wasn’t fully there mentally as my mind was on the countless wagers I had placed or was about to place among other nefarious activities. However; even with all the extraneous stuff going on I enjoyed listening to people and more often than naught their problems would be resolved. It wasn’t me who resolved these problems; I was a mere facilitator as the solutions came invariably from the person presenting the problem. I remember one person say to me after they had confided something to me that I wasn’t the “typical accountant” and if this was brought to another person they would have been scolded. I wasn’t the scolding type and always thought that everyone should be treated as an adult.

There was a time where management decided to have the hourly staff punch in and out at their breaks. I was part of this management but I spoke out in defense of these employees saying we should treat people like adults and this policy was soon rectified. God knows I have had my difficulties over the years but in retrospect I was most happy when dealing with these non-accounting issues. Now I have the opportunity to work in a field that truly helps people.
Who knows maybe somewhere down the road I will seek a higher degree where I can become a counselor but I still have this driving force wanting to be more involved in the business operations. I have been afforded the opportunity to get involved with the business operations and today was that first step in a very rewarding process.

I was energized all day today because this initial meeting went very well. I went from a great workout to the excellent meeting to a really great day through and through. In my new position I am also afforded the time to spend with my family and this afternoon it was time for my son’s baseball practice. Summer is still holding on here in Southern California and the temperature reached over 100 degrees but this didn’t matter to those 6, 7, and 8 year old boys. All they wanted to do was play and whether it was fielding baseballs or just chasing one another around the infield those little guys had a great time. There is so much joy in these children and I had to smile as the baseball practice turned into a game of tag!!! This culminated a wonderful day through and through.