Recovery doesn’t happen overnight
“The Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous are a progressive recovery process
established in our daily living.”
Basic Text, p.96
After some time in recovery, we may find we are faced with what seems like
overwhelming personal problems, angry feelings, and despair. When we realize
what’s going on, we may wail, “But I’ve been working so hard. I thought I was…”
Recovered, maybe? Not hardly. Over and over, we hear that recovery is an ongoing
process and that we are never cured. Yet we sometimes believe that if we just work
our steps enough, pray enough, or go to enough meetings, we’ll eventually… Well,
maybe not be cured, but be something!
And we are “something.” We’re recovering-recovering from active addiction. No
matter what we’ve dealt with through the process of the steps, there will always be
more. What we didn’t remember or didn’t think was important in our first inventory
will surely present itself later on. Again and again, we’ll turn to the process of the
steps to deal with what’s bothering us. The more we use this process the more we’ll
trust it, for we can see the results. We go from anger and resentment to forgiveness,
from denial to honesty and acceptance, and from pain to serenity.
Recovery doesn’t happen overnight, and ours will never be complete. But each day
brings new healing and the hope for more tomorrow.
Just for today: I will do what I can for my recovery today and maintain hope in the
ongoing process of recovery.