“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny” C.S. Lewis
When I came out of rehab in 2010, it was all I could do to get up everyday and get to a meeting and not pick up a substance. Then after about 2 – 3 months I was ready for what they call a “get well” job.
I had not had a job or been an employable person for years. A lot of addicts are coming out of jails and institutions and we need some type of easy introduction back into the work force with the other functioning humans.
These “get well” jobs are usually the local coffee shop, a restaurant, some type of manual labor like landscaping or cleaning houses. Jobs that give you a reason to get up in the morning, a little bit of structure to your day and give you a little bit of money in your pocket. You start to feel human again.
My get well job…….drum roll please….. was at a Pet Cemetery!!! I thought I had it made. The owner of the place was also in recovery and he said I could still make my morning meeting and then come to work. I was still able to get my child on and off the bus for school so I was psyched!!
I look back now and all I can do is laugh and thank god I made it through. There was Jerry the grave digger who lived in his car, Frank the man who transported all of the animals to the facility and another lady who was also an addict but had not yet found recovery.
The whole experience of early recovery is amazing. I truly had no idea who I was or even what I preferred at the time. I was brand new discovering a drug free me. I love animals so much that today I could not step foot at a pet cemetery never mind work at one. The poor grieving people who were saying goodbye to their pets…I can’t!
I stayed at that job for about 6 months and then one day I said “that’s enough for me.” I then went to work with children at an after school program and that job led me to some very amazing and rewarding experiences. I found joy in the children and that started to feed the joy within me. I was able to play and have fun and LAUGH!!
God guided me once again. I had to experience what I did not like to learn what I did like and what was more in alignment with my spirit. I went from the dead and the grieving to the living and the joyful!
All of these experiences I have been able to find useful. As long as I stay clean through it – I can appreciate it and learn from it. And then the best is to be able to appreciate it, learn from it and then laugh at it 🙂
The daily addict 