February 28

HOPE MONTH: DAY 28: ““We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken.” ― John Green

This, I believe, is the most hopeful statement of all. I have met some astonishing people in meetings. There was a young man who was trapped in a burning car, whose face and most of his body were horribly scarred and melted. He had also lost his vision, but he sat in the same meeting with me every day. His message was powerful!

I was in a meeting a week or so ago and saw a former client from the mental health system who is back into recovery. His hurdles are greater than any I will ever face. He only remembered that I loved him and gave him hugs. And he was so happy that there was a familiar face in the room.

I have met people who had nothing left to live for, or so they believed, when they got into recovery. There has been tragic loss, and tremendous hurdles to overcome financially, spiritually, legally, and in all areas. We see these miracles of recovery every day.

I do a great bit of work in jails and prisons and mental institutions, where I get to see how the light of recovery and hope comes on for those people whom society has deemed “irreparable.” I watch them begin this process and, quite often, walk out of the gates to lives of happiness and fulfillment.

My “people” have always been the most damaged and harmed by the world, whatever that looks like. I have never met an “evil” or “bad” person. I have met astonishing people who have done terrible things. There is never something so wrong that it cannot be made better, if not healed.

I believe in the human spirit. I got that faith and belief by watching what happened in my life and then in the lives of the thousands of people I have known and worked with since I came here. I am blessed that I can love the ones that are most denigrated in our culture. They teach me more than I ever believed I would learn about Possibility and Hope and Love.

I also know that I always share that I carry a pocket full of hope for every person I meet. They feel it and respond to it. We must all recognize the miraculous nature of what it is we have and get to do and be. If we do not know how to let people live at their own pace, this is not the work for us.

There have been many people in my experience who took 10, 15, 20 years to come and see me again. It is all about their process, not mine. My desire(s) to control their addiction come from the same ego that wants to control everything, including my OWN addiction. I can get addicted to controlling others in the name of “helping.” This is more dangerous than not helping at all.

Today I am grateful for the process that we all get to go through. It is never wrong, but it can create pain and discomfort for those whose egos are driving their way of viewing these things. I am happy when I get to see someone I love stop doing the things that take away their ability to be happy. I want to share my happiness and love with as many people as possible, because you gave me hope.