In honor of Recovery Month, we asked you to send us your stories about the impact community, nutrition or environment has had on your life since you put down substances and picked up life. Winners are not only receiving copies of our book, The Miracle Morning for Addiction Recovery, but are also being published here on the site.
This week we have Heidi Le, who went all out, creating this spectacular MULTI-MEDIA entry.
Like many of us crazy codependents, I grew up in an alcoholic home. I often call it a “broken home” because that’s what we were: a family of broken people, doing the best we knew how. In broken homes, addiction and depression create uncertainty and fear.
So, in 2012, I began looking around at the carnage of my life and relationships. I began to look deeper and consider the mantra of Dr. Gabor Maté, “Ask not ‘Why the addiction?’ but ‘Why the pain?’”
I looked past the symptoms of my codependency—the behaviors that were burning every relationship, personal and professional, to the ground—and explored the pain and fear I was carrying within.
I had a Genius-level breakthrough.
I found a recovery community of authentic, vulnerable people. They shared how they were once broken, just like me. They were being made whole, and their stories gave me hope that I could heal too. Here, I felt safe to own the profound lessons I was learning in recovery, and I began to express them in lyrics such as these.
My wonderful community of friends loved me in the midst of humbling self-realizations and faithfully walked with me as I healed and began to thrive.
Today, I continue to thrive in recovery—along with my dad. In recent years, he has chosen life in recovery over death from alcoholism, and I’m so proud of him. Our biggest messes have been redeemed into a message of hope, which we gladly share with others.
Life in recovery is a miracle, and it is available to anyone who wants it. When we are ready, we acknowledge our pain and say ‘yes’ to healing. We find our burdens are lightened as we walk the path of recovery together, one day at a time.
May your recovery be rockin’ today!
~Heidi