“Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job—wife or no wife—we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.” (Chapter 7, Big Book)
Today, I have an occupation. That means I occupy myself,
industriously and diligently, for many hours a day, as many as God’s flow of
energies allow. What do I occupy myself with? Whatever God asks me to do. It
might look like ‘work’ in the ordinary sense, or it might look like something
else. It might be in an office, or it might be sponsoring, or it might be
making dessert for the family. Occupied is occupied.
Two things that are not my concern:
Firstly, my livelihood. This matters, but it is in God’s
hands. If I occupy myself with my occupation, God will occupy himself with my
livelihood, namely providing the sustenance necessary for my occupation. He’s
already decided what I need and how to get it to me. If I make a mistake, he’ll
reroute. But none of this is my concern.
Secondly, my career. Strictly speaking, there is no such
thing. As with ‘livelihood’, the problem is the word ‘my’. It’s not ‘mine’. But
worse than that, career is about self, and the programme asks me to abandon
self. I cannot have a career and be free of self. Entirely antithetical.
Only this way have I found peace, power, happiness, and a
sense of direction: by ceasing to look to myself for power, peace, happiness,
and a sense of direction.