“Hopeless living problems have become joyously changed. Our disease has been arrested, and now anything is possible."
Our recovery program has given us more freedom than we ever dreamed possible. Sometimes, though, in the daily routine, we lose track of how much we've been given. How, exactly, have our lives changed in recovery?
The bottom line of recovery, of course, is freedom from the compulsion to use. No longer must we devote all our resources to feeding our addiction. No longer must we endanger, humiliate, or abuse ourselves or others just to get the next "fix." Abstinence itself has brought great freedom to our lives.
Our recovery programs have given us much more than simple abstinence-we've been given a whole new life. We've taken our inventory and have identified the defects of character that bound us for so long, keeping us from living and enjoying life. We've surrendered those shortcomings, taken responsibility for them, and sought the direction and power we need to live differently. Our home group has given us the personal warmth and support that helps us continue living in recovery. And topping all this off, we have the love, care, and guidance of the God we've come to understand in recovery.
In the course of day-to-day recovery, we sometimes forget how much our lives have changed in our program. Do we fully appreciate what our program has given us?
Just for Today: Recovery has given me freedom. I will greet the day with hope, grateful that anything is possible today.