Thursday, April 14, 2016

Belonging

Many times at meetings I hear a speaker telling their story. And it always includes this line. Or some version of it.

"I took that first drink (or fix, or toke, whatever,) and for the first time in my life I felt like I belonged. That I was part of something. That I had finally arrived."

And from that moment on began their venture with substances that would alter how they felt. How they felt about the world. About themselves. And about those around them. They were part of something. They were finally comfortable with themselves.

But once we get sober and clean we learn the reality that we've always been a part of this great big wonderful world. That we've always belonged. That we were loved and cared for - even when we didn't love and care for ourselves. Someone was looking out for us.

Part of being in recovery is loving ourselves without crossing the line into arrogance. Into egotism. Into destructive self-centeredness.

When we master that we're on the path.