The Promises of a Life in Recovery
As close to a guarantee as I will get about what gifts life will bring if you commit to a life in recovery
In today’s writing I will be so bold as to offer something to you that will be as close to a sure thing or guarantee that I am willing to make with a situation as serious as addiction and alcoholism. It is the life that will be manifested if an addict or alcoholic decides to do the work and commit to living their life in active recovery. As bold, unreasonable or unrealistic as these promises might read on a first pass, I want to put them front and center to continue to inspire and inject hope into the story of those that are fighting their battle alone today.
These promises have manifested in my life in multiples that I never imagined were possible. I read this now and feel that the original authors almost undersell the beauty, power and change of mindset that a life in recovery will bring. These promises are only available to those who are willing and ready to put in the work to get them. To me, the vision of what future could be created with serious effort makes the effort all the more worthwhile to pursue.
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Selfseeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
-Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 83-84
I am leaving today’s newsletter short so that you can spend time re-reading those promises. Let them sink in and inspire hope. I have witnessed incredible examples of these materializing and front and center is my own life’s transformation. It does not come for free, though, you have to be willing to work and willing the create change in your life.
Nothing in life is given for free, and for the addict or alcoholic that cost will be pursuing practices of maintaining a life in active recovery. In my journey, these explicit practices were Movement, Gratitude & Awe, Vision, Spiritual Connection and Community.
Put in the work - your life, and you, are worth the effort.
That’s all I’ve got.
Kyle
