Last week I went to a concert in LA. I was excited to see the band for the first time as was my childhood buddy. As we got closer to the arena we began to reminisce about all of the shows we had been to at the Forum in LA. Back in the day it was about $20 for a ticket then $5 to park. As we inched our way toward the parking lot entrance we learned a lesson in inflation. We paid $85 to park the car across the street at SoFi Stadium! Holy mattress! Sadly, it was a bit out of our control at that point. We needed to park and there was nowhere else to do it. So we coughed up the money.

In recovery I often have to do things that are difficult or that I just don’t want to do in order to reach the greater goal. Saying “no” to old habits isn’t as fun as saying “yes”, but the rewards make it worth it. the goal is sobriety and sometimes we need to make difficult choices.

Paying $85 to park hurt. It did. A lot! But the show was awesome. I’ve had memories of the show playing in my mind all week, but I don’t really miss the money (that much). It’s all a part of doing what we need to do in order to…

— Rise Up!!