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I heard an interesting podcast recently about the entertainment industry, called Blank Check. It’s about people in show business who have a huge hit, then basically get a blank check from Hollywood, and the podcast explores what happened next.
It’s certainly not 100 percent, but for the most part, they’ve found that most people who hit it big usually get to do whatever they want in the immediate aftermath… and do not end up making the wisest choices. For example, after George Lucas did the original Star Wars trilogy, some of his next projects included Howard the Duck, Willow and two different Ewok TV series. Yeah, not great.
I’m not knowledgable enough about Hollywood to comment on what that all means for successful people in the entertainment industry. But I can say a sober takeaway that I was left with, which is how dangerous success can be for us sober people.
I’ve seen people—including myself sometimes—have tremendous success in recovery and then… completely eat s**t and faceplant. Sometimes it ends in relapse, but more often, I’ve seen people not drink or do drugs but become more dry than sober, and then they’re miserable. That has certainly been the case for me a few times.
I’ve had a very nice life for quite a few years now since I got sober. I am not wealthy, for sure, but I pay my bills on time these days. My marriage is really good, my kids are healthy and happy, I couldn’t have come up with a better job for myself, and I have never felt closer with my friends and family. It’s been an amazing turn-around that I am really proud of.
It has also meant my life gets busy, and whether I purposely make this decision or not, somewhere deep down, I think I have it all figured out and that I am making things happen in the world. Then I don’t pray as much. I skip a meeting or two, here or there. I go on vacation and don’t get to any meetings or make any calls for five days. I earned it, ya know?
I rarely have seen that story end well. For me or others. And to go back to that blank check idea, just like directors who have one big hit and then get to do whatever they want with very little oversight, I can’t do it. I need editors for my writing. I need sober friends to help me with recovery. If I have a medical problem, I need a doctor. If I have a legal issue, I need an attorney. It can’t be me deciding that I know what I’m doing—maybe I’ll represent myself in court!
Nope. Terrible idea. So I am going to try to remember that even on my very best days, I do not get a blank check the next day. In fact, what would the opposite of a blank check be? A bounced check? Yeah, let’s go with that. Next time I have a great day, I am going to wake up and say, “God, please give me a bounced check!”
This newsletter is a place of joy and laughter about the deadly serious business of sobriety. So, as I will often do, let me close with a joke:
A cop pulls over a driver who was swerving.
Cop: Sir, you appear to be drunk while operating a vehicle. Could you please sat the alphabet starting with the letter ‘m?’
Drunk: Sure. The… malphabet.
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