Perspective: Finding Purpose in Recovery
by Susan R. (Munro)
I have spent most of my sobriety in fluctuating states of change and transformation, while trying to remain grounded and balanced – another great paradox of recovery. I have gained professional experience and as a result of living a program of recovery have become a respected member of my community and society as a whole.
My life before recovery had very little purpose; purposelessness was more my mantra back in those days. I may have thought that feeding my compulsion to drink was my purpose and in fact it did occupy a lot of my mental and physical energy and certainly a lot of determination on my part. Nevertheless, it was really purpose with very little substance (or much too much substance, depending on how you look at it).
I am continually reminded of another paradox of this program of recovery; we connect in order to be free. We find purpose, become intentional and determined and then the rest falls into this good orderly direction (GOD). We find purpose where there once was none at all. WOW – this blows me away every time.
My experience with finding continued purpose in recovery for me meant working on creating my dream job and finding yet another level of meaningful work in my life. I am not referring to livelihood exclusively, as everyone’s need for work means something different and personal to them.
Service work in AA is has been and continues to be an incredible source of learning and rewarding work for me, as well as my volunteer work with many organizations. It pays well, just a different kind of currency than a salary. I have also served on a Board of Directors for several years now which is incredibly rewarding for me. In addition, this is an honest contribution to my community – far from when I only took from my community and my loved ones, before recovery. READ MORE
