“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.“
Oscar Wilde

I continue to be intrigued by how men and women recover from addiction – chemical, sexual and even problems with food. I wonder how they do it – move forward, fashion a new life, get past old, destructive habits – to find new ground. Life-changing NEW GROUND.

Any human change to a better way, a new life, seems profound to me. What are the success factors that get us from point A to point B when the journey seems insurmountable, when the odds of getting their appear brutal? Especially when you have shaped your life around habits that affect the brain and become your “way of being.”

One author argues that with all the prescriptions for personal development in our world today, the one thing that’s missing is our tendency to focus on areas of life that don’t really matter. Could be the new car, career advancement, getting married, etc. All of these are ideas of how to be “happy” in life. instead, he argues, we need to focus on matters related to the soul and spirit – and the exciting agendas that flow out of some kind of focus on the divine.

I would agree and argue that true recovery from addiction, especially in the later stages of recovery, depends on aiming high, reflecting a desire to live a new life based on a vision of change and newness that’s compelling. One that honors our intrinsic spiritual nature – not just buying new cars and collecting “things.” This may come in later recovery, after destructive habits have been minimized. But the sooner the better.