It’s a day of remembrance in America. I was incarcerated 22 years ago and watched the horror of planes crashing into buildings on the day room television until the power was cut and we were sent to our cells. For the next 30 hours or so we sat in our cells without any indication of why and what was happening. It was eerie and surreal.

In the days after we all had a different appreciation for things. I had 26 of 28 men join my Bible study group on September 12th. No one really seemed to mind long lines at airport security because we felt safer.

It didn’t take long for things to go back to how they were though. By the end of the week the Bible group was back down to 8-12 people. There were far more grumblings than thank-yous in the airport. We say “Never Forget”, but aside from being suspicious of people with middle eastern look, we have mostly gone back to the way it was. The love we had for strangers (who look like us) is mostly a memory.

This same thing can happen in our recovery if we don’t pay attention. The joy of sobriety fades into the monotony of denying ourselves of what we think we want. We get too busy for that one hour meeting one time a week. “I’ve got this” replaces “I love you”.

I’m not advocating for pain and tragedy, but I think it would be nice if we could actually remember the things that we will “never forget”.

So today, act like you did 22 years ago. Give someone a hug. Call a friend and tell them that you are ok. Sometimes we need to fall down in order to…

–Rise Up!!