Unconditional Love

I believe that exchanging love is at the core-the very heart-of our existence as human beings. Love is what connects us to the people around us. Addiction deprives us of that connection. It literally TRAPS us within ourselves, shutting us out and locking us away from everyone and everything.

I have found so much love in connecting with other recovering addicts. Love I never knew existed. It literally breaks down the walls that kept me imprisoned for so long. By being open and willing to receive love from others in recovery, I have discovered for the very first time in my life what love is and even more importantly, what love can do! I have listened to others in recovery talk about sharing love and I can see and FEEL all that it adds to their lives. 

As an addict for so many years, I became a very self-centered person. I shut others out to a severe degree. I became resentful and hostile, viewing the world and all the people in it as if they were "out to get me." My addiction prevented me from being able to show love to or feel love for others. What may be even worse is that it prevented me from being able to RECEIVE love from others. I did not see myself as worthy or deserving of love of any kind and with my addiction shutting off my emotions and causing me to feel so poorly about myself, I was shut out from being able to receive love from anybody.

Seeing and feeling what love did for the other recovering addicts with whom I came into contact, I actually started to cautiously believe that if the giving and receiving of love could do so much for others, that maybe, just maybe, it could bring some substance to my life too. Feeling and receiving true unconditional love for what felt like maybe the first time in my life, I could feel myself on the brink of an amazing discovery that would change my life forever. Subsequently, I could also feel in my heart that I could never get to the point where I would be able to grasp the full significance of love if I did not learn to give my own love away. Experiencing the joy that giving and receiving love brings, I was able to finally uncover the missing link between me and the world.

Today, I have found the truth shining clear in the words I heard: "We can only keep what we have by giving it away." Today, life is a new and fresh landscape for me and LOVE is the tool I use to navigate that. Today I am learning to love unconditionally. Today, I will freely give of the love that was so freely given to me.