Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions

by Russell Brand

The altruistic aspect of the step – ‘carry the message’ – in my personal experience often unfolds thusly: a person reaches out to me for help, I think ‘I’m not doing that, what’s in it for me?’ then I realize that I no longer approach life from that perspective and agree to be of assistance where possible. Then I find myself, for example, in a prison talking about drug addiction and I think, and sometimes say, ‘The person that I used to be would not have done this, he was too selfish. I on the other hand am doing it, therefore I am not that person.’ Usually I don’t mention that ‘used to be’ could refer to a time as recent as that morning. In my working of Step 12 is the understanding that I will always default to self-centredness; if I don’t work on my mental and spiritual state I automatically become selfish and indifferent to the suffering of others. A friend of mine says, ‘The spiritual life is like rowing a canoe away from a waterfall, if you stop rowing you are pulled backward.’