It is Thursday morning and you are struggling to brush your teeth without throwing up. A networking happy hour turned into happy 5 hours and your promise to yourself to not do “ This” again has been broken for the third time this week. You check your schedule for the day and cancel the first two appointments, you just can't face brunch with that potential new agent, just the thought of the smell of that makes you wretch and you woke up way too late for the zoom meeting with your life coach whom you hired to help you stay more consistent. You’ve been wasting your money. Your career has normalized the facilitating of alcohol to wind down after the high amount of pressure you have faced for the day, minute, hour, and second and you do not have to do it alone. In an average-sized city on any normal day, you can find at least one pre-arranged networking event where alcohol is provided or at least 3 professional relationships begging to be nurtured where alcohol is presented to you imminently upon arrival through the door. Those luxury offices have an unlimited supply of the good stuff, and you know it, what better place to shine up on those social media platforms with the laid-back, champagne in hand selfies captioned “ just another day in the office”. You spit out the toothpaste and check the camera roll on your phone. You text your partner to make sure you are not in the dog house and begin your hangover ritual that doesn’t work as well as it used to but you cling to it nonetheless. You have wanted to change for over a year now, pulled into submission as your relationship crumbles and your children look at you differently. You made it to an AA meeting or two but recoiled when you realized that no amount of anonymity will preserve your professionalism when these people spilling out their stories that you related so hard to, listen to yours and you no longer feel worthy enough to handle the biggest purchases of their lives. So you retreat to your place at the little round table in the new brewery that just opened. You applaud loudly as your hosts thank you all for coming and invite you to drop a business card at the bar as you pick up your free drink. You intended to hold up your promise to “ just have one” tonight but your nerves got the better of you and you are now not only a liar, but you’re also a buzzed one. How does a professional heal when help comes from and around the people they serve? So many realtors, doctors, teachers, firefighters, policemen, and lenders stay in active addiction not because they don’t want to get sober or are unwilling to put in the work but because the only recovery support available to them makes them feel like they could be discrediting themselves in their careers by openly admitting to having an addiction that causes cognitive dysfunction. So they float through life, plateauing at various stages of their lives because the most monumental goals require a level of presence that dependency doesn’t afford you. I've been there. I, at the behest of a then lover who couldn’t even admit to being mine in public, attended church meetings. I learned in the only two meetings that I attended three things. 1) My addiction issues were not inclusive of alcohol. Pleasing people was just as much a problem. 2) Religious recovery was not for me and 3) I recognized three people in that room professionally, 2 agents and one client, and if I wanted to save myself. I wouldn’t be able to do it out loud. I am now 13 months sober and clearly, I have found my voice again, I have found it for you. I have the support you need to succeed. A quiet community of people who all want to uplevel their lives without acknowledgment but still with full accountability. If you have made it this far down, I would like to invite you to your silence. It all begins here
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