– Michael R., alumni

“The obvious eludes us.” ~Anonymous
As an active alcoholic and addict, the obvious eluded me continually and repeatedly. To be honest, it still does from time to time. At least now, when I miss something that is right in front of me I’m able to re-chart my erroneous course and intentionally take a new road—even while shrugging my shoulders, utilizing my sense of humor and not taking myself too seriously.

In the context of Recovery, the clearest thing I couldn’t see (chiefly because I chose not to) was that the easiest way for my life to become more manageable was to stop polluting every aspect of my being with substances that were not only “not helpful” but were actually killing me. For most people, the clear option is to stop the destruction or—better yet—never begin the habit in the first place. Others seem to naturally grow out of their unhealthy patterns of behaviors as they mature. But a select few of us seem to need a great deal of time and assistance in accepting and living into the fact that we’re wired differently from the vast majority of the human race and therefore have to act differently in order to get to the next level —whatever that is.

One of the up sides about having the tendency to miss the obvious is that once we realize the error, the fix is relatively easy to obtain. As soon as the proverbial scales are removed from my eyes, clear vision is not exactly a towering achievement. Of course the real question is, what will I do with my newfound perspective? Will I take the necessary action to put legs on my expanded awareness? These, of course, are always great questions for this time of the year.

Or at any time in our lives, come to think of it.