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When Everything That Was Up Goes Down Try Getting Some Support

BALM | August 2, 2018

Life moves in cycles. Sometimes in waves. Sometimes wavy cycles and sometimes cycling waves. When there is a Use Disorder in a family, up seems down, down seems up and clarity seems to be on a vacation.

Sometimes a vacation of days, months, years or even decades.

Then one day, after one of those vacations from clear thinking, the clouds seem to part.

The sun returns, even if only briefly, to put things in context.

And then what?

That my friends is up to us.

If we see the sunlight and avoid it, only to go back to the foggy lack of clarity that has become our norm, we face one reality.

If we see the sunlight and embrace it, striving to bring its clear logic and joyful light back into our life, we face another.

This month, we are looking at the 8th BALM® Principle: Getting Support will Greatly Enhance Your Recovery.

For me, this often has felt like it should have been principle number one. But I made it Principle 8 because I knew that for most of us, we could only come to accept our need for support after trying to go it alone for awhile.

Recently, I have been going it alone. The move and other stresses have added to my life stress and I forgot the basic 12 Principles and 7 Steps of the BALM that I put together over the years for my clients, as well as the 12 Steps of  OA and Alanon Recovery that have guided me so powerfully over the years.

When things looked dark earlier this week, I picked up the phone and called my Spiritual Director, one of the supportive guides who has helped me through many a dark tunnel in my life. As always, our talk set me back on the lighted path to recovery. Now it is up to me. Clarity or Fog?

Before the light beams down upon me, I can say I have no choice. But once reminded by its bright rays, choice returns and I am once again pursuing the lighted path.

How about you? Join me?

As they say in the 12 Step Rooms, “Together we can do what we could never do alone.”

Whether you have your own use disorder as I do or have found yourself obsessing about someone else’s, the BALM Principles and Steps can help. When you are ready, we will be there for you. Hope you will be there for us too! It’s a community thing!

 

Best,

Bev Buncher


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