Member-only story
THE POWER OF UNCONDITIONAL KINDNESS IN RECOVERY
Bringing light to an often dark universe
As a person that has taken an unexplainably difficult path to get a handle on alcohol addiction, I have to disqualify myself from offering anyone advice on recovery. I would never recommend that anyone get here the way I did. I was unreachable and consequently recovery-proof. Nothing worked. I either wasn’t ready for it or didn’t allow it to work. Whatever the reasons were, I arrived here in a very difficult and dangerous manner. There was, however, an important element that helped fuel my recovery that isn’t frequently cited, like meditation, fitness, or journaling. (I utilize all of those by the way) This may be unique to my experience, but I hope it’s something that can be inspirational to other people too. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the kind of people that made this experience possible and how the power of it is still energizing my recovery and optimism about being alive.
After relapsing hard during the lockdowns I had to check myself into a local hospital to survive the withdrawal. Following my admittance, the sense of shame engulfing me was overwhelming; so much so that I instinctively started apologizing to my nurse. I told her I was very sorry that she had to take time away from her true job of treating authentically sick or injured people to attend to an irresponsible drunk that created his disaster…
