Been Around

 There is a “been around date.”  It is when you first tried something but then dropped out and went back to your old ways.  People get baptized, or enter recovery programs, or start a gym membership and attendance.  Then they drop out, disappear. Go back to the “before” behavior.  I meet a lot of people why used to be in AA or used to be Catholic.  “How’s that working for you?” I might ask.  Whatever their answer, I suspect they will walk away thinking about it.  A correct decision to become more whole will not work without discipline and trust and maybe some humility to ask someone for help.  Initial enthusiasm or desperation can and will disappear somehow. And we can be a forgetful lot.  I keep this in mind on my own spiritual path.  Lots of detours beckon.