Getting sober is like bush whacking through a thick jungle. Sweaty and dense, our slippery hands grasping a worn machete handle. As we hack our way through cravings, and new relationships, making amends and establishing boundaries, a path begins to clear. We are able to look up from the dense foliage and see patches of  blue sky. Clouds, maybe, and the colorful wings of a bird.

We start to breathe more easily, to take stock of what is around us and not just immediately in front of us. We start to fill out, to fill in, to become active participants in our lives. As we continue on the path, the heavy underbrush opens up, we see more sky and less confusion. We have helpers along the way: support groups, and friends, sponsors and coaches and therapists.

We begin to trust ourselves. To trust the path we are making isn’t just one away from the thick, all encompassing darkness and confusion of the jungle. But that it leads us somewhere. It leads us home to ourselves, and even if we are not sure where the path takes us, we can feel it is the right one.