WHATEVER IT TAKES
January 20, 2023, I lay in an ICU of Bangkok Hospital, Phuket. I was physically, mentally, and spiritually broken. The co-founder of the Residential Treatment Center I was admitted to for the third time asked me by my bedside: “What are you willing to do to stay sober? I want you to think about that, mate (he is English), and tell me when you are ready. If not, you are wasting our time.”
I needed to hear that. Tough love is the greatest gift I have been given. This came from a man I held in the highest regard and was like a father to me.
When I arrived in Texas, I found a man who was on point with his sober recovery, a man who had what I wanted – worked the 12 steps, set the example, knew sober recovery, and could share about it openly and honestly. A man who radiated spiritual experience; I asked him to sponsor me.
He first said, “What are you willing to do to stay sober?”
I said, “Whatever it takes.”
He went on to say, “If you put the same kind of energy into sobriety that you put into getting loaded, you are off to a good start. Check-in with me once daily, get a big book, and we will plan a meeting time.”
Before sobriety, I was living as an individual, broken, bootstrapping my way through life. The most important thing I had to learn with the ‘Whatever it takes’ commitment is to take the suggestions of my sponsor and men who have walked a mile in my alcoholic boots and have not only found the solution but are living their lives by it.
Today, I am fully committed to a lifestyle of sobriety – Warrior Recovery; because I like the effect it produces, just like alcohol and narcotics used to. The thing is, I only have to put a few hours into it daily, whereas, in active addiction, it was a full-time job plus overtime.
To maintain this life of sobriety, I must actively live it; I must freely give it away through Service. Every great thing in my recovery has directly resulted from Service to Others.
There is a symbol that embodies Whatever it Takes—it is a triangle surrounded by a circle. Unity, Service, and Recovery are written on each side of the triangle. It means to me Fellowship, Selfless Acts, and a Higher Power. With my life framed by these principles, I have a life beyond anything I could have imagined.
