The message I have today is straightforward. Love our Recovery with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, with our strength, and love our neighbor. This makes up the 12-steps of Recovery and the foundation of the actions we submit accordingly.
Love the journey of Recovery with everything we got. First, we need to love ourselves and then love our neighbor. Yet these are the most difficult things to do. Why is it we continue to retain something for ourselves rather than our hearts whether it be a lot or a little it doesn’t allow our hearts to give entirely to our Recovery?
Several years ago I participated in a spiritual retreat. I enjoyed the solitude and the ability to meet with a spiritual director several times. During our first session, he said, “Do you love yourself”? I was taken aback by this question and said, “I do”. Upon further reflection, I recognized I had a low opinion of myself. During the last five years, I have been working on loving myself. Recovery is a wonderful mentor providing a foundation for what I need.
We have been given the grace of the 12-steps yet, we may say, “Recovery you are not good enough for me and I am going to love this other thing”. This is not what Recovery is asking us, Recovery is asking us to give our hearts over to the steps entirely. What about our neighbor especially those who have harmed us in any way?” Honestly, Recovery asks us to love our neighbor as ourselves.
How much do we need to love ourselves? It’s difficult to love ourselves but this is the wisdom of Recovery. Even as difficult as it is to love oneself and our neighbor we have been given examples to look to such as Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Oprah, Maya Angelo, and others. They had struggles the same ones as us and somehow through the grace of free choice, they served the common good with all they had. They understood the importance of loving themselves and their neighbor without any reservations. If we follow them we can change our hearts and we can change the environment we live in.
12 Steps to Health
Hope ≈ Healing ≈ Health
- We dedicate ourselves to a lifestyle of Recovery; our lives have purpose and meaning.
- We believe a Power greater than ourselves is the path to hope, healing, and health.
- We choose to contemplate daily, how faith in our Higher Power and Recovery Community can bring us peace.
- We choose to educate ourselves and find the courage to strive for the highest level of health and well-being.
- We communicate our Plan of Recovery with our Higher Power, with ourselves, and with another human being.
- We allow our Higher Power to be the lighthouse in our lives.
- We humbly ask our Higher Power to reveal his unconditional love and ongoing presence within us.
- We acknowledge our behaviors have impacted our relationships. We list those affected by our behavior and whenever possible become willing to reconcile or thank them for their support during a relapse or mental health crisis.
- We seek mutual reconciliation for a harmful action we committed and seek forgiveness from those we harmed or were impacted by our behavior. Then, let go of our shame because it no longer serves a purpose in our lives, we understand we were designed because we are loved and to be in relationships with other people.
- We continually review our Plan of Recovery with our Higher Power, support team, and those we trust.
- We come to recognize our shortcomings during recovery, while discovering our Higher Power is the source of our strength and mercy, we learn to rely on our Higher Power for the courage to heal through prayer, reflection, mindfulness, and when necessary seek professional support.
- We gain insight into our recovery through our Higher Power as we model these steps, and share our journey toward hope, healing, and health with people.
Adapted From 12 Steps of Alcoholic/Depressed Anonymous by Larry Winter and Collene Spaeth
Revised: 6/5/20
SuperHuman Being
Peace
Larry
email: ljw@superhumanbeing.net
website: https://superhumanbeing.net/