Читать книгу Meditations for Pain Recovery - Tony Greco - Страница 80

MARCH 9

PURPOSE IN LIFE

SPIRITUAL BALANCE

“Life without a purpose is a languid, drifting thing; every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves, ‘This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught!’”

Thomas à Kempis

Before my chronic pain struck, I felt like I had some purpose in my life. My family, work, school, sports, activities, etc., all gave meaning to my life. However, in my pain, my purpose became just getting through another day or moment.

My purpose seemed to become an effort to get everyone around me to understand just what I was feeling, even if I had to lash out and get others to actually feel pain along with me.

The physical pain spiraled into the mental, the mental into the emotional, and ultimately, a crisis of faith and spiritual connection ensued. But in pain recovery, I have purpose again after all this time, and it is not just to get through another day with pain. Instead, my purpose is to live my recovery, share my experience, and help another find and fulfill his or her purpose.

The foundation and fabric of the Twelve Steps is service and carrying a message, helping another. Getting out of myself was really what I sought through the abuse of medication; I’ve found another way to do that by helping others.

I have a purpose in life—staying in pain recovery and helping others. Everything else is built upon that.