Sean is 30 years old, has lived in Utah his whole life, served an LDS mission in Jacksonville Florida, and is now married with three kids. Sean is currently going to school to be a therapist focusing on marriage and families. He's worked with troubled youth suffering from both sex addiction as well as substance abuse.
There's not just a one time fix
In this episode, Sean and I discuss a common misconception that we face with challenges in life that hurt like addiction. Our human response to pain is that we want it to stop and go away. In addiction and in recovery from addiction we experience pain, and over and over we've said it ourselves and heard others lament "I just want this to go away."
However, our experience has been that God has a better idea in mind. He lovingly allows us to suffer so we learn from our experiences. He gives us the opportunity to choose Him in hard circumstance, not so He learns something about us, but so that we can learn something about ourselves. If we can overcome something so difficult as the near hopeless plight of an addict, we can overcome anything, because we've given up trying to do it on our own - we've come to Christ, and choose obedience.
Honesty works, it may seem like the most unlikely answer to go and confess to a church leader, your parents, or a spouse, but it HONESTY is the first step. Recovery doesn't go anywhere until we can get really honest with ourselves, with God, and with those around us.
If you're stuck in an addiction, there are others out there that understand what you're going through. YOU ARE NOT ALONE - and WE need you too! I truly believe that! We need each other. I don't care how battered or beat up your life may be, there is someone in this world that needs you too. Someone is depending on you.
Jimmy Coray is a husband and father, hiker and adventurer, author and speaker. Jimmy spends time in the mountains of Utah enjoying the freshness of high altitudes. He takes a couple cameras with him to record thoughts and experiences of his own path to recovery and peace. Speaking from the heart, Jimmy will share with you how to break down shame and enjoy being genuine...even if your genuine isn't your ideal...yet. He is the author of the forthcoming book, "26 Peaks in 26 Weeks" a series of lessons that inspire change and humility. He shares these lessons in men's retreats, youth groups, and corporations. Jimmy also has served on the Utah Coalition Against Pornography Advisory Council.
You can follow him on the mountain by subscribing to his YouTube channel: Every Mountaintop