Is Recovery a Gift?

This question was put to me recently by a patient at the Sante Center for Healing. It was asked during a discussion about relapse; why is it that some people seem to get recovery easily and other struggle for years? Is it something that God grants to people after sincere prayers or acts of contrition? Does faith produce the gift?
Always, I’ve found, that patients ask the most fascinating and provocative questions; is recovery a gift?

I really believe that yes, recovery is a gift but it is a gift that we need to create. I have found that most worth while things in life come with effort. We produce what we truly want.

It is often said that Mozart was a gifted genius. But such a simple statement does not do justice to the many hours that Mozart practiced with his music into the night. Indeed, he would often go for days, not eating or sleeping, working on a symphony and yes, he was gifted but he also needed to polish the gift.

Winston Churchill has often been described as the greatest orator. But as a child he had a lisp, what then was considered a serious speech impediment. But he knew that if he was to be a politician, following in his father’s footsteps, he would need to speak in parliament. And so he practiced for hours in front of a mirror, using the impediment for emphasis. Again, Churchill polished the gift.

And so with this in mind we can turn to recovery. What aspect of recovery is a gift? The gift is the fact that we have the ability to change, think differently, make choices or decisions concerning how we want to live our lives; some might say this is what makes us human. We do not just act on instinct. Indeed we create our lives and this includes, to a greater or lesser degree, our health.

And alcoholism is a health issue. The American Medical Association has pronounced alcoholism as a disease. It is progressive. It is chronic. However, if we do not drink alcohol, then the disease decreases as an influence in our lives.

Recovery is making the decision not to drink alcohol. And, maybe unlike animals (and note, I did say maybe) we have been gifted with the ability to think, change, make healthy choices. In this sense we might say that recovery is a gift.

But most important things in life tend to suggest “on the one hand” and yet we need also consider “on the other hand”; and the other hand involves our involvement. Remember, we need always polish the gift.

And maybe this is the major difference between people who seem to get recovery easily and others struggle for years; indeed some die from alcoholism. Could it be that the people who embrace recovery truly ‘get’ the concept that they need to change? They understand on an intuitive level that if they don’t want to continue to suffer then drastic action, and notice I emphasis action, is required.

In my personal recovery from alcoholism I went into treatment for three months, I only intended to stay two weeks. However, the counselor who spoke with me convinced me that the more time I spent in a ‘recovery center’ improved my long term chances. I then followed the treatment with six months in a recovery home; a place where everyone was recovery focused and we went to Twelve Step meetings daily.

I paid my dues. This is how I polished my gift.

Spiritually I believe that God has given to each human being the gift of freedom. We are free to live our lives in whatever way we want...but always there are consequences. If we do not work then the consequence is that we do not create. Mozart worked. Churchill worked. And, not intending to rank my recovery with genius...Leo also worked.

Most of the people that I know who cannot stay sober do not follow the basic directions that over the years we have found to lead into recovery. Notice I used the phrase “do not follow”; rather they prefer to do things their way.

Let’s look at a few basic directions that help create the gift: