Is it possible or necessary to recreate the mythical past?

We came to believe that a Higher Power could restore us to sanity.* But what if sanity or clarity was always, from day one, the rarity? Recovery is a journey where I discover a new way of living sanely, safely, and with clarity about boundaries and inner resources-reserves.

1. It is impossible to change without a decision to do honest, searching, and blameless inner work.

2. Do I need restoring to a mythical past that never existed?  Is it possible? **

3. Doing differently requires practice and patience, and a willingness to be a beginner.

4. Find a fellow-traveler. The disruptive forces- the ones we choose and - those we don't - are too powerful to work with alone. 

*I speak for my own experience only, and I certainly to do not represent any 12 -Step program. I am sharing my strength, hope, and experience and that is all.

**Religion portrays a mythical perfect beginning for humankind, starting with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 1-2. Is it total bliss? The presence of the serpent is part of the story. The serpent was part of God’s creation but also represents, to me, that as humans, we are a mixture of good and harmful intentions. I do not believe in talking serpents. 

***I used to think addiction involved only substances that are consumed. I now realize the the "inner drug store" (ACA terminology) is another source of addiction and dysfunction. Jim Jackson defines these as "ambient addictions," in A Guide to Behavioral Change," Banlican House Publishers, 2022. See chapters 15 and following.