Understanding the Malady

 A bodily craving coupled with a mental obsession—that’s the one-two punch of an addiction. When that addiction is to alcohol, for example, it becomes deadly. We’ve seen it, we’ve felt it, and, if we’ve been working the program, we've found a spiritual solution to it.

That doesn’t mean that my compassion has grown. Sometimes I have felt an impatience with those who have thrown up emotional barriers to their sobriety. The control-freak within wants to shake them and tell them to just do it! Just do it like this! Just listen to me!

Obsessions don’t allow for any voices that sound like “well, why don’t you just _____?” Answers to life’s vexing problems seem clear only when viewed from the rear-view mirror. The way wasn’t clear when I started my path, so how can I expect any different perspective from others? I had to step out in the faith that it worked for a great many others, some even like the “terminally unique” me! I had to find out for myself. I had to grow into the willingness and humility to try. 

That can be a hard pill to swallow. I can’t hold frustration or judgement against another person if they can’t or won’t take that first step, followed by the next first step then the next. What I can do is to be an example in my life, and be willing to share what has worked for me. In my experience, this happens on an intimate plane; I freeze up when trying to share at a group level. That’s okay. I do what I am able to do and forgive myself for what I can’t.

Meeting with those who can’t find their way or those who have experienced a setback is an opportunity for both of us to grow as humans. It’s a tender thing.