It took me a while to let go of the idea that I could do this program on my own. I’d been raised to be self-sufficient. I had to figure out how to take care of myself and solve problems on my own. As you can guess, this hasn’t worked for me. Today I know that there are many things I can’t do by myself, including making progress in my recovery.

What I’ve learned along the way is the same lesson I preached during my military and business careers: it takes teamwork. I now realize that nowhere is this more important than recovery from my addiction. So I have developed what I call the “We” program, which is made up of three parts:

People. Who are the people in my program? It’s funny now, disconcerting then, but when I first wrote out this list my Higher Power wasn’t at the top. Today my Higher Power is my number one person. Other people include my wife, my sponsor, my sponsees, the guys in my daily check-in group, other friends in the program, and now even some healthy non-program friends. My Higher Power put these people in my life to help me navigate my recovery.

Actions. People are not the whole story. As we have been told time and again, this is a program of action. It takes action to recover. The actions we take connect us with the truth of our lives and with recovery.

Actions I take include: prayer, daily check in, journaling, Step work, service work, calling other program friends, practicing the principles of the program, and living in integrity. Over time, the positive actions I take have changed my self-centered, self-defeating attitudes and actions into positive and healthy attitudes, resulting in a new way of living. Progress has seemed slow and even like going backwards at times, but each day gives me a new chance to live in integrity and make different choices.

My walk down recovery way has not been a straight line, but I’m grateful to have the combination of people, program, and actions I can take to keep moving forward.

Commitment. I know that people, program, and actions are good things. But in the end they are just things. It takes something more, something that I must want to give. Today I know that at the heart of my “We Program” is commitment. I must love myself enough to commit to the program and the “We” concept, and to give of myself to others.

Today I make a P-A-C to join the “WE” program.