"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." --Marcus Aurelius
For years I did not live I simply existed. What many people take for granted I did not have: friends, vacations, job satisfaction, gratitude, family, communication and love of self. An aspect of my disease, my denial, was that I thought I was happy without having any evidence for such a feeling. Indeed, my lifestyle indicated progressive isolation. That's illusion. A recovering alcoholic priest shared that early in recovery he saw a sunset and remarked, "How long has that been happening?" Like him, I missed so much!
Life is to be lived or endured. My spiritual recovery means that every day I reach out to life and grasp it, hold it, smell it -- and smile.
God of life, let me live today. Let my "high" be the glory of the day.
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"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. "
