With a new year upon us, it’s a great time to look forward to 2016 and strengthen our resolve to not only improve our lives in recovery but also the world around us. A big part of recovery is service. Service takes on many forms as we know. I like to think of this as a state of mind rather than a singular random act of kindness (although those are always encouraged too!). In our daily conscious contact with our higher being, I would encourage us to ask to have opportunities to help others be revealed to us. Seek awareness to see these moments and take action.
Its widely known in this program of action that when we give, we receive. We have also come to believe that we keep what we give away. With this in mind, take a moment each day to ponder the blessings we’ve received in sobriety and how we got there with the help of others and our higher power. Then look forward to the day with gratitude, and rest assuredly opportunities to help others will become more apparent than ever.
All this will result in a very meaningful and joyful 2016. I’ve never been too keen on making New Year’s resolutions. I believe that setting quantifiable and measurable goals throughout the year is a more effective endeavor. However, if I were to choose an over-arching theme, I would choose to make service to others the theme of 2016.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, service to others takes many forms both big and small. In fact, some of the most profound and meaningful acts of service given to me were the smallest gestures of kindness at the precise moment I needed them. The world is a great place full of great people. Those of us who have come from the darkest of days have the ability to illuminate the world around us and bring hope to those looking to obtain what we have found in addiction recovery. As we read in the New Testament “Let your light so shine…that they may see your good works” (Matthew 5:16).
From us here at Renaissance Outpatient, have a safe and happy New Year! Let’s make 2016 the best year yet!