Today's Thought - April

[bluidkiti]

April 30

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.

~Nelson Mandela

There comes a time when we must turn and face our addiction. Running away will only bring terrible loneliness and isolation, and intensify our pain. We must, instead, find the courage to face ourselves as addicts. We may believe we need our addiction to cover the feelings we don't want to face. Somehow, to admit that we have feelings and don't know what to do with them seems too shameful to bear. But to take the risk and discover that we can handle what comes our way gives us immediate strength.

It isn't easy to let ourselves experience our compulsion without surrendering to it. It takes a great deal of courage - courage we're never sure we have. The courage will be there, but often only as we're willing to reach out to our brothers and sisters in recovery in our moments of desperation. Courage doesn't mean doing it all alone. Meetings and phone calls are the lifeline connecting us; we need never suffer in isolation again.

If I am struggling with my addiction today, I will not run away. The addiction loses its power when met with the honesty and strength of the fellowship.

Today's reading is from the book Answers in the Heart: