I hope wherever you are, you know Recovery is with you right where you are.
Recovery and its traditions, especially the Twelve Steps, seem important in any spiritual system. They help us recognize and set boundaries around our egocentricity. They also help us build healthy connections with peers, family, and loved ones.
Think about children playing a game. They often strongly defend the rules and boundaries of that game. Why? Because we see in them a deep need for order and fairness early in life.
We cannot flourish early in our Recovery while living in a completely open space with no boundaries. We need order, predictability, connection, and structure to Recover well.
Without the traditions of Recovery, such as the Twelve Steps, our ability to live and grow can become very weak. What happens to our Recovery if we cannot forgive someone who has harmed us? What happens if we begin to believe that we are the higher power in our own lives? What happens if we stop caring for our mental, physical, and spiritual health?
These ways of thinking can slowly pull us away from Recovery and from a happy and meaningful life. We need traditions, healthy laws, and boundaries to grow up and grow in Recovery. A free-for-all may feel like freedom, but it does not help us heal as well or as quickly.
If we are committed to growing in Recovery—with accountability and without rationalizing our choices—we need to connect with people who have walked the path before us. We need peers who understand the journey because they have lived it.
Peers can help us develop discipline, patience, a positive sense of self, and the persistence to keep moving forward. If we want the opposite, we can choose to surround ourselves with people who believe, “I am doing this all on my own.” That kind of isolation can keep us stuck.
I have been guided by both a therapist and a peer in the support group I attend. They have helped me face the dread, responsibility, guilt, shame, and anxiety that once made it difficult for me to open my heart and mind to the Twelve Steps and their boundaries.
They challenge me to let go of false securities, move beyond suffering, and see hope in a new way. Their guidance has helped me become free from years of suffering.
Much of this Recovery work took place during the first half of my journey. Now, I am learning to notice and uncover feelings as they arise.
A strong foundation gives us a place to grow. When we build that foundation with love, honesty, accountability, and faith, we create the freedom to become who we were meant to be.
This is the beautiful work of Recovery.
This is the art of learning to love ourselves and others.
Remember, Recovery is happening right now, in this moment.