Isolation is to Addiction as Contentedness is to Recovery
Being a part of something bigger than myself was never
something I ever felt I could truly achieve in active addiction and
alcoholism. Like so many other soul
soothing miracles I have now been blessed to experience, perhaps there is no
other feeling quite like connecting in love, service, and gratitude in an
effort far greater than any one of us.
It is often said that addiction is a disease of isolation; that has
certainly been my experience based on my own and the countless stories of
addiction I have been exposed to both on this very podcast as well as in the
rooms of 12-Step fellowships.
The
definition of isolation is to be or to remain alone or a part from others. Synonyms of the verb “to isolate” include:
separate, to set or keep apart, to segregate, detach, cut off, shut away, to
keep in solitude, and withdrawal. I
spent over 20 years of my life from age 11 to the day I truly surrendered to
this disease in some degree of isolation from others and from the God of My
Understanding. Those of us who know the
isolation that accompanies our disease; oft preceding full and active
addiction, and increasing in degree and intensity as the disease progresses
until, if left unchecked, the painful aching of separation has in fact
manifested itself as a reality. You are
truly alone, and then as the Big Book says you’ll know loneliness as only few
of us do. This feeling we wouldn’t wish
upon our most bitter enemy, yet somehow we’ve managed to make this
self-fulfilling prophesy come to be a cold and empty reality. Life increasingly loses meaning the less connected
we are to the people we love and our spiritual selves; which is precisely why
being a part of a stunningly imperfect collection of beautiful souls sharing the miracle of their
own recoveries is perhaps the greatest gift The God of My Understanding has
bestowed upon me as I traverse this journey as a recovered addict and
alcoholic.
I lived a lifetime of fear
and loneliness, feeling less than -
desperately making every effort to fool myself and the world into believing I
wasn’t absolutely dying inside. Today I
haven’t been more sure of anything in my life that I am on the right path, with
an increasingly larger and utterly amazing recovery family that I love in a way
that transcends sufficient superlatives with which to justly describe. This is indeed a life you should NOT miss my
brothers and sisters; and you don’t have to so long as you’re willing to go to
any length to recover from your seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.
Also recorded as the Recovery Revealed Segment in The Way Out Podcast Episode 68 http://ow.ly/7Tex30gyI5V
Charlie LeVoir
Host
The Way Out Podcast
© 2017 The Way Out Podcast www.wayoutcast.com
