My Hero, My Friend
I had an interesting talk with a dear friend of mine on Friday. You see, he spent years of his life addicted to Crack. But he has been clean for over nine years now, which makes him one of my own personal heroes. And aren’t those the best kind? The ones you actually know. Not just see about or read about. You actually get to know them.
We were comparing stories. And it’s funny. Just like my classmate I told y’all about, he views what I did as harder than what he did. Yet, I am totally in awe of what my friend has accomplished.
And so I said to him, “So few people do what you have done. You act like it is nothing, when really it is everything.”
And it is. I really believe that.
So he went on to tell me how he knows what he did is a big thing. About how many people come to meetings and don’t stick around very long. Very few left at the five year mark, and even fewer at the ten.
And are you catching that? It’s been over nine years, and he still goes to meetings. And from talking to him, I can tell you, it’s numerous times a week.
Because that’s how he keeps his sobriety. That’s how he stays clean.
And y’all…that’s how he maintains.
There are actually areas outside of weight loss where people have to work on maintenance.
There are actually things in this world that are just as hard as losing and maintaining weight loss. We aren’t doing the hardest thing in the world, y’all.
But the biggest lesson I learned through my friend? He told me, “I have to stay humble, or I go right back to hell. The minute I think I’ve conquered it, I’ve lost it.”
So, let’s see. The minute I think I’ve conquered my battle with the bulge, and go back to eating the way I used to eat….hmmm…I’ve lost it.
So…maybe, just maybe, never feeling like I’ve conquered it is key to my maintaining my loss.
He goes to narcotics anonymous meetings to maintain while I go to the gym and eat healthy.
And while we both focus on the ongoing battle, secretly we both know the other has won. We just don’t tell each other that.
Battle on friends.
Fight the good fight.
August 31, 2008 at 5:23 am
You have a talent for this blogging! Some people seem to need to "maintain" to stay in the range of weight, or cracklessness, or emotional state, they want, and others don’t. I think the point is, if there is something you want, you need to focus and stick to it in order to achieve it. Another good post. Thanks
August 31, 2008 at 6:56 am
This will probably sound stupid but that’s never stopped me before…years ago I had some wonderful friends who were in recovery. I went to meetings with them for about a year. I couldn’t get over the sense of solidarity & the support that was there for them, based only on the fact that they were an addict. The people in those meeting became family to them. I enjoyed feeling the message of hope that I felt there even though I wasn’t even an addict.
September 1, 2008 at 5:18 am
My father was a recovering alcoholic for about 12 years before he passed away. I was able to witness his path to sobriety from the beginning. He also battled RA which took both of his legs. He was 53 when he passed away. To this day, he is still my hero!
Your friend is a great inspiration to many who fight ANY addiction. I will pray that he continues to stay strong, go to meetings and chooses to live a healthy lifestyle. I do the same for all of us to struggle to take/keep weight off. God bless you and I continue to enjoy your blogs.