Rewards of Recovery

I could write a novel, however I have chosen
to keep this brief.

Recovery is living life.

I started seeing a therapist one year ago, I
was (like most Codependents) involved with an alcoholic.

When I began to realize that I was just as
sick as the alcoholic, I chose to end the relationship so that I could get
better.

I can honestly tell you that LIFE FOR ME
BEGAN AT 30!  I look back now and think that I was sicker than the
alcoholic!!! (and he was the one who was nuts)

I will tell you, recovery was painful,
going back to my childhood was not pleasant, I grew up in a home where my
biological Father abandoned me, I was adopted when I was two years old by a man
who was an alcoholic, who was diagnosed with a Mental Illness, who sexually
abused me when I was 13years old.

When I talk about my childhood today I
don’t speak with pain in my voice, I don’t blame.

Through God’s understanding and much
therapy and attending meetings and reading and reading and reading and doing the
exercises that were required of me, I began to recover.

I put my recovery above and beyond
everything in my life and I got better.

I continue to work on myself everyday.

Today I love who I am, I have accepted my
character defects, I have accepted everything about me.

Most importantly I continue to work on me. 
I am able to recognize patterns by trusting my God given “gut
instinct” and doing my best to not go against it.

Today I am thankful for my recovery, I
share my recovery with my children by listening to them and teaching them that
what they feel is important.

I love you all and I wish you all the best.

You can become whole!!!

Carla Marie P.