I hope that wherever you are, you know Recovery is with you.
In our pursuit of Recovery, there is an inner drive to practice the 12 Steps as perfectly as possible. While this is a noble goal, is it realistic? We need to guard against loving order more than we value compassion when we fall short in our desire to heal. Many of us have a history of excluding and being unkind to ourselves when we believe we are not following the 12 Steps as we should.
Recovery is for all of us, even though we do not all fit into the same size or follow the same path. Recovery meets us where we are, including our struggles and shortcomings. We can think of this as Recovery’s protective care and compassion.
Each time we practice the 12 Steps, Recovery reminds us that the rules are not as important as the relationships they help create within us and with others. Once we experience the healing grace of Recovery, it can become enough to help us trust, seek, and love the 12 Steps.
Our minds often take pleasure in achievement. We like things to be clear, predictable, and under our control. This can be helpful in science, but it does not always work well in the practice of the 12 Steps.
When I first began practicing the 12 Steps of Recovery, I followed them very strictly. If I could not follow one, or if I fell off the path, I quickly fell into shame and overwhelming guilt. I became consumed with following the letter of the 12 Steps.
This is changing for me. I am learning to have a relationship with the 12 Steps rather than simply following a set of rules. That relationship also includes the people in my life and the relationship I have with myself.
I still come up short at times. When I do, I am learning to open my heart to compassion and mercy. If I have harmed another person, I ask for their forgiveness. Then I try to learn from what happened and return to the path of Recovery.
James Hollis, in “Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life,” writes: “The world is more marginal, less predictable, more autonomous, less controllable, more variable, less simple, more infinite, less knowable, more wonderfully troubling than we could have imagined being able to tolerate when we were young.”
Perhaps this is part of what Recovery teaches us: we do not have to control everything or follow every step perfectly. We are invited to keep returning to the path with humility, compassion, mercy, and love.
Remember, Recovery is happening right now, in this moment.
Please pick up my new book. Your support of my ministry allows me to serve others. Daily Devotional: 12 Steps to Unshakeable Recovery: Winter, L.J.: 9798987012741: Amazon.com: Books
SuperHuman Being
Peace
Larry
email: ljw@superhumanbeing.net
website: https://superhumanbeing.net/