Here’s the thing
If you’re going to listen to one thing, let it be this—not because it’s louder or wiser or sharper than everything else flying around in early sobriety, but because it comes from the slow, difficult place where real clarity lives.
Most of us come into recovery thinking the enemy is the alcohol. But that’s just the headline. Keep showing up, keep listening, keep doing the work, and something deeper emerges. Not all at once—but eventually. And one day, you stop saying, “This happened to me,” and you start asking, “Why did I need it to happen?”
It took me years—and I mean years—to see that the root of my drinking wasn’t stress, loneliness, sadness, trauma, ego, or even rebellion. It was something sneakier. It was how I applied the Serenity Prayer.
A prayer I hadn’t even read when I needed it most. But it turns out it had been there all along—like a divinely planted seed, dormant in my soul, waiting to sprout. Thirty-five years later, I finally heard it in the rooms of AA.
And of the three lines in that prayer, I took one: the courage to change the things I can. I built a life on it. Charged ahead. Kicked down doors. Climbed ladders. Broke ceilings. Always in motion. Always fixing, shaping, forcing.
But I ignored the rest. Accept the things I cannot change? No thanks. The wisdom to know the difference? Who needs it when you’ve got velocity.
Turns out, I did. Because courage without wisdom becomes hubris. And hubris in my hands became the quiet machinery of addiction—justified, glorified, slowly destroying me and hurting those close to me.
This isn’t some epiphany dropped from a burning bush. It’s the product of inventories. Of stumbling and listening. Of pain I couldn’t out-drink, and a God I didn’t yet know how to trust. And maybe—if you’re new to this path, or if you’ve been circling the same turbulence for a while—you’ll hear something in this that makes you pause.
And in that pause, maybe you’ll find your own starting place.
Here’s the thing: recovery isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about remembering who you were before the noise got so loud.
About Jason Bresnehan
Jason is the founder of Evahan, a consultancy dedicated to helping individuals and organizations build both financial and legacy wealth. With over 30 years of leadership across sectors and continents, he brings commercial acumen, strategic insight, and lived experience to every engagement. His work spans business transformation, venture management, and M&A, always grounded in a belief that ideas—shared with clarity, balance, and respect—can improve individuals, families, communities, and society.
A strong advocate for freedom, limited government, and enterprise-driven progress, Jason also draws deeply from his personal recovery journey—an experience that reshaped his life and fuels his commitment to growth, contribution, and principled living. Through writing, speaking, and service, he continues to learn, share, and speak with purpose.
I can be engaged (on a remunerated or volunteer basis) to sit on Boards, Committees, Advisory and Reference Group Panels, and to speak to Business, Community, and Youth groups. I’m also open to providing comment to media on topics where I have relevant experience or insight. Please feel free to make contact.