WEEKLY MEDITATION
I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.
-Albert Einstein
The process of recovery is necessarily one of change. If we were simply attracted to what is healthiest and best for us, our addictions would not last for long—we would naturally make changes that would eliminate them. But we are ultimately attracted to that which is familiar even while we are consciously striving to make changes. The problem, then, is not just our deciding in which direction we want to move, but in letting go of where we are. Our addictions represent an attempt at emotional protection. And to make the changes necessary to live comfortably without them, we may need to make changes in our lives that can seem drastic or initially unnecessary. Sometimes we will have to step away from certain friendships. We may decide to end longstanding romantic relationships. We may decide to eat differently, or live within a recovering community for a time. And almost certainly we will have to change the way we navigate our emotional lives. But the bottom line is that we cannot avoid facing the temporary discomfort of having to let go of parts of who we are so that we can become the version of ourselves that we want to be.
