Recovery Meditations: July 21st

GROWING OLDER

“I think, therefore I am.”
Rene Descartes


Before beginning my recovery process with our online groups, I used to look in the mirror and want to cry. I'm not a young, lovely creature anymore. I'm showing my age. Inside I'm still a young girl, but now I have a grandma's face.

The Twelve Steps to recovery have opened up a whole new world to me ~ and it is a world that is ageless. Its principles are timeless: honesty, hope, faith, courage, integrity, willingness, humility, love, forgiveness, self-discipline, perseverance, spiritual awareness and service. Maturing without benefit of these principles would be choosing to simply get old.

Through my program of recovery, I have been inspired to keep my body strong and well -- the way my Higher Power made it. I am encouraged to stay as attractive as possible for as long as possible, out of concern for myself and for others. By the time I reached the 9th Step, the worry lines in my face began to soften … now they look like smile lines. It seems that participating in our program of recovery has reversed my age.

One day at a time...
I will grow older, but also much wiser.


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What a beautiful reading! For decades I was focused on my external appearance ONLY, neglecting the state of my internal spirit. A quest for external beauty only is futile. And irrelevant, to boot.  Beauty is temporary..........age sets in and beauty diminishes with wrinkles. The internal beauty is what's important, and what overrides the external signs of age and infirm. 

When I take care of my inside, my outside takes care of itself. And it's no longer quite SO important that I look perfectly young or perfectly beautiful. It's way more important that I FEEL beautiful inside of my soul. The Steps provide me a roadmap to interior beauty, by helping me develop character and integrity and love.  THESE are the signs of TRUE beauty, not what I look like in clothing.

For today, through my program of recovery, I am inspired to keep my body strong and well........the way God made it.  When I look in the mirror these days, what I seek is to have my worry lines soften instead of seeing a youthful and perfect face.