I hope wherever you are, you know Recovery is with you right where you are.
Those of us who are ready will find the message of Recovery easy to find. The people who have gone “down” are often the ones who truly understand what it means to go “up.” Those of us who have fallen and learned to suffer with courage are the ones who can rise without misusing the gift of being lifted up. But what does “up” really mean?
It is not something we achieve through willpower or moral perfection. We cannot create it on our own. It is a gift given to us. We do not know for certain that Recovery is true until we reach the “up” side. But first, we must walk through the “down” side. As we do, we discover that we come out the other side spiritually blessed.
Life has a way of gently pressing in on us through circumstances, love, suffering, or God. We are often led where we would never choose to go because we struggle to believe that Recovery is truly possible. Deep down, we would rather avoid the journey. Yet falling upward is one of Recovery’s greatest secrets. We do not discover it by thinking about it. We discover it by trusting enough to take the risk, even just once.
Can we give ourselves permission to be led? Only after we begin the journey do we discover that it is true. Recovery teaches us that the path we feared was leading us toward healing all along.
When I look back on my own journey, I see that I leaned on faith and trust before I fully understood love. Faith held me up while I waited, hoped, and trusted. Then something beautiful happened. I began to love myself more deeply. I learned compassion. I discovered gentleness. I accepted myself with greater kindness. In many ways, I was “falling” in love with the person God created me to be. This was the only way forward. I doubt I would have chosen this path if I had known ahead of time what love would ask of me.
To discover love, we first need faith to build a strong foundation for the journey of Recovery. Great love is always a journey. It is a discovery, a beautiful surprise, and a falling into something much greater, deeper, and larger than ourselves. Spiritual teachers encourage us to believe, to trust, and to hold on. They remind us to keep going until we experience the journey for ourselves. In time, we discover that the spiritual journey is real, and so is the healing that awaits us.
Remember, Recovery is happening right now, in this moment.