There’s only one person flying the plane—or so it seems.
By all accounts, piloting a plane seems like a solo activity, only one person at the controls. Same can be said for our individual lives. We have to live our lives under our own control, independent of choices and actions by other people around us.
But behind the scenes, it takes support entities in many jobs keeping that plane in the air; mechanics keeping the aircraft in working condition, technicians fueling the plane, air traffic controllers, the control tower itself at airports on each end of trip, weather or flight conditions, etc.
The acknowledgement of all of these factors can be the difference between life and
death at a certain point.
My husband used to own a small aircraft and learned a very important code for when
you think you are lost in your plane, called, 3 Cs: Lost Aircraft Procedures:
Confess, Communicate, Comply.
Confess: Admit that you are lost and need some form of assistance
Communicate: Request assistance on the area working frequency
Comply: Follow advice of air traffic controller
Sound familiar? I was amazed at how similar these three distress action steps aligned with the first three of our 12-step program:
Step One: Admit we are powerless and our lives had become unmanageable.
Step Two: Came to believe a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.
As we are lost or spiraling down as alcoholics, we have to admit there is a problem and that we need assistance, then believe that someone CAN assist us, then make that affirmative action step to reach out and let the assistance come—turning it over and taking direction.
When we rely on our own power as addicts, we don’t realize all of the community and
resources that are there to assist—that were there all along! We just hadn’t acknowledged them. Recovery is a process that cannot be done alone.
We need others to assist us, community to help maintain us, and God to fuel us throughout our flight, allowing us to soar to new heights!
James 5:16
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
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