Creating Recovery

It takes all of your courage to be the person you are,

to fulfill your odd and unique possibilities.

~Dawna Markova

Sometimes it’s hard to see the trees for the forest. A closer look reveals that each tiny seedling, each tall giant, even (and maybe especially) each twisted, weathered limb of deadfall, has a beauty all its own.

Many of us, in varying stages of recovering, develop a hunger for knowledge of our condition and for the companionship of those who understand. We read literature, join groups, form new relationships. In the process of figuring out where we now fit in the scheme of things, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.

As we let go of once-familiar habits and become part of a new community, we may experience a temporary loss of identity. Life is different. We are changed.

Still, we are not lost to ourselves.

Like the trees in a forest, we are individuals within a collective—connected, yet apart.

As a complex being with a unique personality, history, and sensibilities, there is much more to you than even you can immediately realize. For now, just know that you are emerging. Intact. Whole. A necessary part of the larger picture.

Pain challenges me, but it does not define me. I am an individual, a whole person, with gifts to share.