You are never too old to get sober.
The “age thing” is kicking my butt. And—I know it’s because I am “letting” it. Not physically, but mentally framing it in my mind—Feeling old, not needed, not relevant anymore, old ideas that people have moved on from, not making a difference…
I know this is not true. It’s all in my head.
I can FLIP these around in my brain in an instant from victim-mentality to productive and encouraging thoughts:
Feeling old—Feelings are not facts.
Not relevant—Making a difference
Old ideas —Wisdom of experience
I am not always able to do this brain flip for myself. I am grateful that I have a God who is “crazy about me” and sends angels to encourage me and remind me of this. This week God sent a colleague and friend.
A while back, this colleague heard me speak in a business meeting about how I was working with others to create a youth recovery meeting. Hard task on many levels. I said, “The kids don’t want old people like me in the room, they want their own age group.”
He encouraged me right away by saying his experience. His son was telling him how he valued the older generation’s wisdom and how his son sought it out. Then, this week, that same friend sent an encouraging email to me. These were the words that jumped out at me:
"I often think about our brief conversation about youth and who they are looking to spend time with. I want to encourage you to keep going and invest in the younger generation. You have so much to offer, and your love and experiences are what they need. No age disqualifies us. We only disqualify ourselves when we believe we are no longer relevant in the eyes of others.”
This hit me that it is so much like my sobriety meetings. We are not disqualified. We get to make a difference in our meetings just showing up for the new person getting sober, no matter the age. Show them the way and encourage them that sobriety can indeed be achieved.
As others have done before me.
I didn’t get sober until I was 50 years old, and I now have 7,186 days of sobriety—closing in on 20 years. My life since getting sober has been about God using me to lead and show the way for others trying to get sober, making a difference and sharing the wisdom of experience.
You can do this too. Come alongside another struggling alcoholic and show them how it’s done.
I love this little 3-sentence thought:
Know the way.
Go the way.
Show the way.
“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.”
Psalm 25:9
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