WEEKLY MEDITATION
Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
-Joseph Campbell
The author of today’s quote spoke often of the importance of life’s challenges and adventures for the development of self-awareness and self-knowledge. Of the many personal adventures in life that seem to cause great upheaval, facing addiction is one of the most poignant. A very useful way of looking at addiction and the difficulties inherent within its various expressions is to view it as part of an emotional or spiritual awakening. Many who are years into recovery from their addictions see it exactly this way. There is no doubt that addictions are ultimately the accidental result of the pursuit of very important and valuable qualities in life—that of security, self-confidence, and general feelings of calm and wellbeing. The trauma and tumult inherent in active addiction can stand as a motivating factor to end the addiction, but it need not end the search for the qualities that may have propelled the it. The process of effective recovery, actually, must eventually lead to a renewed ability to navigate through life with confidence and strength. Often, it is the very pain caused by the addiction that leads to the development of deeper personal powers and abilities. Challenge is nothing to be avoided, often, it is the very force that will fuel the motivation necessary to effect real personal change.
