What program are you working?

The other evening I had the privilege of sitting with the head of our counseling center for a new guest dinner at the church. While at the dinner we got into an interesting conversation about recovery and some of the language that the recovery community uses on a pretty regular basis. One of the things that John (the director of the counseling center) said was, "We are all working a program. That program could be of sobriety, personal goals, or that program could be your faith."

Image from thewatershed.com

Wow. John's simple statement really got me thinking:

Am I happy with my program? 

I am working a program right now, whether I want to admit it or not, my actions have a direct reflection on my outcomes. I think where I get lazy is that I can't settle for only one program. Every aspect of my life needs a program, every part of who I am needs a program that will challenge me at the core of who I am. Faith, marriage, sobriety, leadership and fatherhood - they all need programs.

I really believe that my biggest screw-ups in life have come because I stopped working my programs. I got lazy doing the little things that add up to the big picture. The little things are the simple things that get done every day to ensure you stay on the right path, the problem that I run into is that sometimes I think that I can get away with skipping a day. Then it becomes two, and all of a sudden I've completely destroyed the good parts of my program. What I've done is replace my desired program with a program of laziness and disconnectedness.  

In my own life I've realized that every aspect of my life, every aspect of a good program needs to have three things:

A good program keeps you engaged.

A good program keeps you growing.

A good program keeps you walking towards God.

What program are your working? Are you happy with your results? What part of your program do you need to change?