WEEKLY MEDITATION
What is to give light must endure burning.
-Victor Frankl
One of the most important personal tools that will aid in the attainment of successful recovery is the ability to experience emotional difficulty. At their root, addictions ease pain, and until we can learn to endure emotional discomfort, we will have little chance of remaining addiction free. Often, it is pain itself that alerts of us of a need to make changes in our lives. When our physical bodies require care we are often warned through physical pain. And when out emotional bodies require care, often when it is time to make changes that will enable us to live more conscious, mature lives, we will experience emotional pain as an indication of this internal need. If we don’t develop the ability to experience this pain for a time, if we find we must avoid emotional pain as soon as we start to feel it, then we miss out on the opportunity to take this next step in our personal evolution. There is no way to grow personally or emotionally without periodically enduring a little burning, and the healthy experience of emotional distress is an important and useful part of an addiction free life.
