In April 2007 I went on a mini vacation to an NA convention in the Florida Keys. I was tired and needed a break. When you hear that “recovery is hard work” I can tell you they are not kidding. We in the rooms of recovery see so many newcomers come and go that I wanted to tell this story about my Keys convention experience. There are many recovery oriented fun things to do in this new way of life, conventions, and roundups being a couple of my favorites.
We aren’t rough campers so many of us have motor homes or travel trailers. We caravan down each year and set up camp as a group. We go to meetings, workshops, and there is the usual talent show, Karaoke contest and dances. This year one of the people in our group brought his diving experience and gear to share with the rest of us. He took us to Loke Reef.
The water was crystal clear and any where from 10 to 75 feet deep. I was diving with my dive partner when we came upon a 6-foot shark. We followed behind the shark for a while. I was amazed to see a fish this size moving through the reefs, peaks and crevices.
After following the shark for a while we turned and headed back for the boat. As we came around one of the reefs peaks, I saw a woman kneeling on the sand bottom and she was praying. I recognized the girl as a TPOT alumni. I got goose bumps when I realized that when I first met this girl she was living a life without any purpose or hope and here she was 3 1/2 years later clean and sober and praying on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. I was immediately filled with gratitude for recovery. Later that evening while at the main speaker meeting there were another 12 TPOT alumni with anywhere from 6 months to 3 1/2 years clean and sober.
I sometimes get caught up in the drama of people who choose to go back to living life in their disease and forget to focus on the ones who do the foot work to stay clean and sober. I need to remember with the help of a higher power, the good start that they got here at TPOT, meetings and the help of the fellowship, we can recover.
