Monday, July 11, 2022
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
If you are here to read this, think of those who aren’t …Think of their great sacrifice. — Mel Ash
For every one of us who has recovered from addiction, there are dozens who have gone mad or died or who have denied their dreams. Some have survived merely to lead, in Henry David Thoreau’s words, “lives of quiet desperation.”
When we think of the sickness, suffering, and despair of those who have died or who are still active in their addictions, our response need not be moral judgment, survivor’s guilt, or denial. We can feel compassion for them as well as for those — including ourselves—on whom their lives have had an impact.
We can acknowledge that others have been a part of our own path to recovery and thank them in our hearts. We can recognize how little separates our lives from theirs. We can appreciate life’s fragility and riskiness, rejoice in the freedom recovery affords, and commit ourselves to becoming all we can be in the time we’ve been given. We can enfold those who still suffer in the love and warmth of our thoughts, praying that they achieve peace.
Today, I feel my connection to all those who are suffering, and I pray for their well-being.
Hazelden Foundation
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