Each morning I try to start my day on the right path. I read from “Answers in the Heart,” meditate, and pray to my Higher Power. I pray for my family, for the other addicts in the world and for serenity, courage, strength, and willingness for myself. I look out the window to try to connect with the world of which I am a part. I gaze at the sky, the ground, the trees.

One tree in particular usually gets most of my time. It is several decades old. At its base, it has a strong, straight trunk. But the higher limbs have suffered over time. They are gnarled and bent. Some have broken off. The main branch bends over to horizontal, as if pressed upon by a heavy weight. But from that large, bent, sagging limb, several small branches stand up straight, reaching for the light of the sun.

I feel very much in tune with that tree as I try to reach for the light from my bent, broken, and damaged past. It is with renewed vigor that I then try to get on with doing the next right thing. No matter how bent and damaged we have been in the past, we are all precious beings of the Universe who can reach for the light.

Yours in Recovery,