Stories to Live By (Tales of Wisdom for Recovering People)

By W.F Rutland

This is a book of stories. But, it is not a traditional recovery story book. The ancient rabbis used a method of teaching they called “stringing pearls”. This involved telling a series of seemingly unrelated stories which all explained a different aspect of the same topic. Like holding a diamond up to the light, the stories reflect in the facets of the thing being taught; imparting hidden wisdom. This book is my string of pearls.

I love hearing and telling stories; I have since my youth. The idea for this book came from the stories I tell in groups I do at the rehab center where I work. Specifically this work is born out of a group that I do which is nothing but stories and what they teach us about recovery. None of these stories are original with me. I have collected them over the years. For some I know the origin, the genesis of others are lost to me. The chapters of this little book present ten different stories which can teach us something about addiction and recovery if we will only let them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W.F Rutland
• Release date: Jul 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310901492

W.F Rutland

William (Bill) Rutland is a recovering addict and alcoholic. He has been in recovery since April 12, 2009. Since 2011 Bill has worked full-time with people in early recovery. Bill lives in Navarre FL with his wife Linda and two cats.

Book preview

Stories to Live By

Tales of Wisdom for Recovering People

By W.F. Rutland

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Dedication

To my sponsor Cliff who walked with me through some very difficult times and taught me how to live as a man of integrity.

To my wife Linda without whom I may have never gotten sober.

And

To the clients and staff of Twelve Oaks Recovery Center in Navarre FL who have been an important part of my recovery.

I love you all.

Table of Contents

Stories to Live By

By W.F. Rutland

1. Introduction

2. The Cave

3. Fetching the Moon

4. The Stone Cutter

5. Learning how not to Fly

6. The Blind Men and the Elephant

7. Mohini the White Tiger

8. Living Among Men

9. Carrying the Woman

10. The Dragon and the Wayward Knight

11. A Bird in the Hand

Introduction

I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.

― Edgar Allan Poe

There is a mysterious world under the bed. A land of shadows, dust bunnies and escaped socks seeking liberation from their mates. When night falls who knows what strange things may lurk beneath the safety of the mattress. In the dreams of children it can be imagined that this netherworld space between the bed and the floor may be the lonely abode of a monster laying in wait to grab tender young feet. As we grow our monsters do not go away, they simply change and get more sophisticated. In the past our primitive relatives dealt with their monsters by telling stories about them. We are not so much different. We humans are story telling creatures. From around the campfire in the deep Amazon jungle to the modern IMAX Theater in the heart of the modern city, we love to be carried away in a story.

Stories give us a way to deal with our monsters. We get to experience the terror of the fight through the story. We feel the sorrows, joys and triumphs of the hero from the safety of the story. Stories have the ability to bypass the intellect and speak directly to the heart and the emotions. The wisdom of the ages can be communicated through one simple tale. A well crafted story can teach us truths in a way that we not only learn but experience.

This is a book of stories. But, it is not a traditional recovery story book. The ancient rabbis used a method of teaching they called stringing pearls. This involved telling a series of seemingly unrelated stories which all explained a different aspect of the same topic. Like holding a diamond up to the light, the stories reflect in the facets of the thing being taught; imparting hidden wisdom. This book is my string of pearls.

I love hearing and telling stories; I have since my youth. The idea for this book came from the stories I tell in groups I do at the rehab center where I work. Specifically this work is born out of a group that I do which is nothing but stories and what they teach us about recovery. None of these stories are original with me. I have collected them over the years. For some I know the origin, the genesis of others are lost to me. The chapters of this little book present ten different stories which can teach us something about addiction and recovery if we will only let them. I hope you enjoy reading these tales as much as I have enjoyed presenting them to you. If even one of them helps you on your recovery journey I will consider my job to be done. God bless the most important story you will ever tell; the story of your life.

W.F Rutland

Story One

The Cave

Let them think what they liked, but I didn't mean to drown myself. I meant to swim till I sank -- but that's not the same thing.

― Joseph Conrad

If you have ever taken Philosophy 101 you most likely ran across Plato’s analogy called The Cave. Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived from about 423-348 BC. The Cave comes from Plato’s work the Republic and is presented as a dialogue between Plato’s brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates.

The Story

There was once a tribe of very odd people. What made them odd was not that they lived their entire lives in the bowels of a great dark cave; but that they could never leave the confines of their dwelling. From birth they had been bound in chains, cleated to the floor of the cave. They were held fast in the chains in such a way that they could neither look right or left. For as long as anyone could remember all they could see was the back wall of their cave. Behind them was the entrance of the cave and beyond that a great fire which burned both day and night. When people and animals passed between the fire and the cave opening, shadows were cast upon the back wall. As the captive cave dwellers watched the shadows dance on the back wall of their cavern, they mistook them for real objects. The people began to create stories about the specters and some even imagined that the shadows may be gods.

One day, one of their prisoner race found some slack in his chains. He moved, first right and then left. After a little more squirming he managed to stand and then with one great shake, as if by magic, his chains fell free. He moved for a moment on uncertain legs. Then gaining some strength he ventured toward the entrance of the cave. Out he went into the sunlight. Suddenly his eyes were blinded. Slowly his blurry vision cleared. What he beheld thrilled and frightened him. He saw men, women, animals, plants and birds. The escaped prisoner suddenly realized that the things he was seeing were the reality behind the shadows he had grown up seeing on the back wall of the cave. Before him unfolded a world of warmth and light and life; he felt the warm sun on his skin, the cool breeze at his back and sweet fresh air filled his lungs.

Thrilled by his new found freedom the man ran back to the cave to inform his race of the truth he had found. Entering the cave, once again he found that he was blinded, but this time by the dark. As he stumbled around he shouted, Get rid of your chains, your shadows are not real! The cave dwellers were alarmed by the appearance of the man as he grouped in the darkness. But even more terrifying