After a couple months of intensive work, my life coach asked me an outrageous question: Will you do anything I ask you to?
I couldn’t imagine what he had in mind, but we had spent months building trust and, by now, I believed that he had my best interests at heart. Plus, if it was too crazy, I could just fire him.
I asked him to let me sleep on it, but ultimately decided to take the challenge.
He said, “I want you to go to AA meetings — a lot of them. Sixty meetings in 60 days.”
I was dumbfounded. Why Alcoholics Anonymous? For all my issues, this addiction wasn’t one of them. His reply stunned me.
“Because God is there.”
His words felt like insult added to injury. I needed to hang around the dregs of society because I needed more God? Who did he think I was? A godless reprobate? I mean, I’d written a book on the evidence for faith. I was an elder in my church, chairman of a national Christian organization and leading a local ministry to executives.
But a deal was a deal. I immediately began to fret about someone recognizing me. Would my reputation suffer? I shared my concerns at my next Young Presidents’ Organization forum retreat and, to my relief, several of the men agreed to accompany me.
I was completely unprepared for what happened next…
Circle of Grace
My first meeting was spellbinding. We listened to gut-wrenchingly honest stories from one person after another, whose lives were destroyed by addiction.
I realized I had never encountered a group like this. People who brought no carefully manicured persona. No judgment. No advice. No fixing. Just raw truth.
And it all happened in a circle of unconditional grace. I soon discovered Al-Anon, for friends and families of addicts, and I found myself looking forward to the meetings. Then one night, something miraculous happened.
I had to head into the office, despite being on sabbatical, to handle some unavoidable meetings and decisions. I felt a freight train of a headache coming on, but my coach advised me to skip the Excedrin and concentrate on how I might be creating it.
I didn’t like the idea, but was open to his methods now, so I skipped the meds and rushed to my Al Anon meeting, prepared for the worst. Do you know the headache never came?
That’s when I starting believing the healing power of acceptance in a loving, honest, compassionate and empathetic community. What other mysteries had I yet to unlock?
Let me ask you… are there things in your life that might be creating headaches for yourself — physical or otherwise? Think about the types of people you surround yourself with, at work, at play and beyond. Are you cultivating genuine relationships? Is there anyone you feel you can truly be yourself with?
This week, I encourage you to seek out those whom you trust and set up a time to just share your heart. It might sound scary, but you might just find you’ve given them the freedom to do the same.