But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James‬ ‭1‬:‭22

The easiest time to slack off is when we sober up. We enter this new world of weird people and selflessness, and it is easy to sit back and observe as we evaluate whether or not to take any of it seriously.

Of course, examination leads to procrastination, and it is a simple matter to simply stay on the fringes.

But the easy way has the most difficulty. When we aren’t in motion, we will be swayed and blown away easily. When we go along without deciding to actually buy in, we secure a seat that could eject at any moment.

Sure: soaking up the message, evaluating its merit, looking for trusted friends and getting back into the rhythms of the living are parts of coming out of the fog of addiction that we don’t shrug off. But if we postpone the actions of sobriety and the work of getting better, we will be stuck in a dim shadow of recovery.

Trouble is, the shadows of sobriety are full of a lot of people going through a lot of motions that sometimes mirror the tenants of the program. It’s full of well intentioned, bright-eyed people.

And it isn’t bogged down with as many rules or suggestions or prayers. It’s more of a take what you need, buffet situation.

Which is great for a minute. I love a good buffet. I just can’t live off one forever.

The fringes will give me a lot of things like slogans, prayers, ideas, catchy quotes, page references and historical names. But it’s pretty meaningless by itself.

I’ve got to go a layer deeper. I’ve got to shuffle through the outer ring of complacent sobriety and get into the thick of things. I’m going to actually have to do something. I’m going to have to get dirty.

Where am I spending most of my time? On the fringes or in the middle?