What The World Needs Now
By Ken Gregoire, Ph.D. President/CEO
Rehab Centers:
I recently gave up college football forever.
This is the third time I’ve done that. One
year after a particularly difficult Orange Bowl
loss my football buddies and I decided to move
on to bowling. We designed satin shirts with
our names on them. Fortunately, our resolve
to give up football forever waned before we actually bowled a line, saving us I’m sure,
from embarrassment and most likely injury.
Another year after watching our team suffer through a year
long slide into mediocrity we decided to give up football forever
in favor of a men’s book club. We thought we would
start by reading Oprah Winfrey’s recommended book of the
month. Again, our resolve waned and we read Tom Osborne’s
book, More Than Winning, and made plans to attend the spring
football game to see next year’s stars in the making.
This year after a late season collapse I’m sure I’m giving up
football forever. My football buddies and I are moving on to
a men’s club devoted to learning the art of bonsai and we are
going to try a little yoga too.
One time this year after a particularly painful loss I was
scanning a message board for similarly obsessed football fans.
One thread caught my attention. The fanatic initiating the
thread asked the question, “What is the worst thing you’ve
done when upset while watching a football game?” There
were many responses and the list of ghastly behaviors was
long. I admitted to myself having committed four of these atrocities before.
I quit reading, further motivating me to
stay strong in my resolve to give up football forever.
I can already feel my resolve waning. February 2, is LOI
day (I’m writing this on January 18). For those of you who
aren’t fanatical football fans LOI means letter of intent day,
the day high school seniors sign a letter of intent to attend
and play football for the college of their choice. At any rate,
I’m starting to think about LOI day. My football buddies are
no help. We are all a relapse waiting to happen.
Okay, enough is enough. This much I know--my football
buddies aren’t going to be much help to me. They aren’t
going to help me strengthen my resolve nor failing that will
they help me learn to enjoy football in a more mature and
dignified manner. I need a special set of friends for this
job--my rehab center friends. My recovering friends have done
it all, seen it all, and have been molded into wise but humble
men and women by facing and overcoming true adversity. In
this day when civility is in scarce supply, when hate seems
more apparent than love, when bragging and boasting and
chest thumping is the common way to handle success, when
the blame game blares at us unceasingly from our television
sets, there is a group of people who can show us all a better
way, who have a simple set of steps that form a blue print for
how to live. These are the men and women of AA and NA. I
think I am going to look up one of my rehab center friends and
talk about this football thing. Maybe I can learn to renew
my resolve every day or heaven forbid learn how to actually
enjoy myself next football season. I know many football fans
who could use the wisdom of AA and NA. The world could
really use a big dose of that wisdom as well.
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