Hope

Hopelessness is a common feeling among people suffering from addiction. For years the feelings that we had were that this life was something to suffer through. Every day was the same, probably getting a little worse. It seemed in our minds that we were doomed.

When we give up, and ask for help, that feeling of some hope for ourselves begins. Some of us need to detox and go to a rehab, like Clearbrook. The process starts by acceptance and admitting that we have a problem. Once we give up and realize that drugs and alcohol are killing us we can begin. The feeling of hope, like everything else in recovery is a gradual process. If we find a sponsor and a home group in AA, it makes us part of something again. The friends that we have been looking for our whole life begin to develop. One of the greatest feelings is to know that someone else finally understands us and how we think. The people we get close to in AA and NA let us know that we aren't alone anymore. They let us know that at one point in their own lives, they felt just like we do. Then they tell us how they were helped out of that despair. If practiced as a way of life by us, our lives can be the same as theirs. Like yesterdays blog, this takes time.

Hope is bigger and better than any material thing we can obtain in our lives. We are on the path to repairing broken relationships with ourselves, our families, and with God.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for the pain of growth. Today I will be mindful of the saying, "no pain, no gain". I pray that I may accept the pain necessary for growth.