I've found that in my short time in recovery, that most people believe in that it should be "by attraction, rather than promotion" as the saying around the room goes. I fully understand and respect this tradition in most aspects, but we live in a new era, and I feel that one shouldn't be frowned upon, shunned, or mistreated because they choose "to recover out loud." Before I go any further, I would like to give a disclaimer that these are fully my opinions and random thoughts, so please don't look too far into this as me bashing programs and traditions that have been proven to work and be successful.
I think that these following opinions I have respect these programs, and if not, I apologize. When I say, "recover out loud", I'm not running around town blurting it out to everyone I pass, passing out flyers on the streets, or making a mockery out of a very serious problem. However, I am also not hiding anything or ashamed that I am in recovery. For me personally, and for many of you that may read this, I have a responsibility, one that outweighs any other. I should put it as "WE" have a responsibility.....the generations below us, our kids, our families, a whole generation of young, fragile, and moldable beings. In my active addiction, prior to having children and after, I was never quiet or hid the fact that I liked to party and get messed up. I glorified it. I always was sure that no one knew it was a problem or that I wasn't constantly having a blast, and especially not how much I hated myself. This all just led to a never-ending cycle of self-pity, loathing, and slowly killing myself driven by my ego either telling myself I was fine, or I wasn't good enough, or I was great. The ego tells you exactly what it wants you to hear to distract you from realizing your ultimate power and potential. (That's for a different subject though)
What I'm trying to get at is whatever you want to call it, "devil", "evil", "darkness" is all around us and in this day and age is marketed and geared towards the younger generation and shows no signs of stepping off the reigns. All of us in recovery are blessed and have witnessed the dark powers around us and survived the deathly grips of it. So why can't we learn from what is attracting our youth and show them that being sober is the new "high" and recover out loud. We can learn from the youth just as much as they can learn from us and by doing that, we teach a new generation how to live and they teach us how to reach our "nibbana" or peace. Let's rebuild our cultural standards and change the world one day at a time!
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