Filling the God-Shaped Hole

Sobriety is more than abstaining from drugs, alcohol, or any of our addictive behaviors. It means to recover the person you were born to be.

Some of us lost all hope of ever having lives with success in careers and loving relationships. Others of us, because of our life’s circumstances, never even had the opportunity to explore what this meant. We have felt an emptiness in the depths of our souls, and we used substances outside of ourselves in hopes it would ease our pain and fill these holes.

But this hole is where inspiration (in-spirit) guides you to design the blueprint for your life’s highest purpose, where the spark of hope ignites your faith and fuels your passions, where the miracle of transformation manifests everything you will ever need to become your highest self. This hole is a holy place that only God can fill to make you whole.

When you get honest with yourself, open your mind to new possibilities, and become willing to ask for help, you will be empowered with all the tools you need to create a life full of love, peace, and prosperity.

The Great Mystery

Many of us resist recovery because we hear the word God and instantly close our minds to the possibility that a higher power can help us. However, God is just a word that helps us to communicate the great mystery that powers all life. This power has also been called universe, love, humanity, a higher purpose, the Big Bang, and even a Group of Drunks (GOD) in recovery.

In Unity we believe that everything and everyone is connected, and we are made from the same substance that created every star, planet, and person. This higher power also includes you and you are part of it. This is what we mean when we say the power is within you.

The Lies of the Ego

Some of us believe the lies of the ego/addict that we are not worthy of a better life. Against our better judgment we have lied, stolen, and cheated to maintain our addiction. We have brought great harm to others mentally, emotionally, and perhaps even physically.

More than anything, we have harmed ourselves. You may try to use in moderation, abstain for months at a time, or replace one vice for another. But once again, you give your power away to the disease of addiction until your spirit is broken and you find yourself in the depths of depression, debt, and utter despair.

When we disconnect from our Source, our light dies to an ember that loses its glow. Our will to live is extinguished. Finally, through the Gift of Desperation (GOD), we finally might consider the idea that a power greater than ourselves can reignite the will to survive and a drive to thrive.

Worthy of Recovery

To reclaim your birthright to the substance that created the entire universe, you first have to become willing to put down the substance that is killing you. When you get honest with yourself, open your mind to new possibilities, and become willing to ask for help, you will be empowered with all the tools you need to create a life full of love, peace, and prosperity.

You are worthy of recovery! How do I know? If this is true for me and millions of others, I know this is true for you.

This article first appeared in the Unity booklet The Spiritual Journey from Addiction to Recovery. All the authors chose to remain anonymous in keeping with the tradition of 12-step groups.