From Numbness to Grace: Embracing Life’s Messages in Sobriety

~ December 6, 2024

Being clean and sober for almost 20 years now, I’ve learned a thing or two about myself. The opiates I fell in love with at just 14 years old were but a symptom of my inability or unwillingness to process life on life’s terms. Granted, I was still very young and had faced what many would consider a few lifetimes of hurt by that age, I still felt everything way too deeply and intensely, it seemed.

I still feel and sense everything, including people and relationships, probably even more intensely today than ever before. The difference being, now I do not run from what I feel. I do not push my strong feelings away, numb them, use too much distraction, etc. They do not overcome me. It is my greatest strength because I gracefully transform each into the decipherable message it has for me and, at times, others. And they are usually quite profound indeed.