Finding Your Own Path in Recovery

One of the nicest things about my path in recovery is that there is just no telling where it is going to take me next. The only thing that I’m sure of is that the ride so far has been wonderful most of the time; I have faith that it will continue to be so. Of course there will be bad days to come, that’s life and nobody escapes it, but now that I’ve found the right path I’m confident that it is leading in a positive direction. I have managed to accumulate some nice possessions on my journey so far but this alone would not make life so enjoyable. I’ve even managed to achieve some of my childhood dreams and that is wonderful too. I feel though that this path is leading to a much bigger reward; to a peace of mind that is almost unshakable.

I know that all this talk of a path probably sounds a bit wishy-washy to a lot of people. It may seem a bit too ‘new age’ or have the whiff of some type of ‘magical thinking’. All I know is that my life is full of joy, and it has been since walking away from the booze and choosing this new way. I have come to believe that life is about developing as a human. When I allow this growth to occur my life becomes a lot easier to manage, and positive things happen to me. When I fight this growth my life feels unmanageable and everything starts to go wrong. I don’t know why it is like this; I just know that this is how it is. I am not so worried about the ultimate truth behind all of this; the fact that it does work is enough to me.

Following this path means having people and things to point the way as I go along. This may be hard to believe but the correct things keep appearing in my life at the right time. Let me give you an example, writing a book and getting published was always a dream of mine. I had heard people talk about how hard it all is, and that always put me off. I have to be honest with you here and say that getting my book published was nearly all downhill for me. Sure it took a long time and a lot of work, but people kept on popping into my life at the right moment and directing me. Some might like to put this down to pure luck, but the odds against these events occurring seem to make that doubtful – the fact that there were so many events make it seem impossible. I am convinced that when the student is ready the teacher appears, and this is something that is always occurring in my life. The next important teacher in my life can come because I randomly click on a web article or because I just happened to bump into the right person.

Not knowing where this path is going to take me is what makes life in recovery so satisfying. The fact that I’m sure that it is the right path means that there is no sense of urgency. I will get to the destination eventually and all I have to do is keep on following the sign posts that come into my life – it couldn’t be easier.

I believe that we all have our own path in life. My journey is not the same as the one other people need to make; I think that it is all leading to the same destination though. Once we find the path we are meant to take we know it because we feel a sense of excitement and a peace that we have never experienced before – that has been my experience anyway.