Growing Tall

It's no secret that there was a period in my early life that was spent lost in a world of alcoholism and drug addiction. It is a time that I can not regret because it is what has led me to where and who I am today. I would not, however, care to repeat it. Nor would I wish such a horrific and lonely experience on anyone else.

What finally turned me around was that I came to the end of myself. I knew that I could not outsmart or outrun what was happening to me or what I'd become. I knew that I had to ask for help or I would be lost. That all began with a simple and earnest prayer. "God help me!", I cried. That help came in the form of an overdose, an ambulance ride, and a night in jail.

I discovered that I had no idea how to deal with life on life's terms. I had to forget everything that I thought I knew and listen to the people who held the key to my freedom. I was taught that if I was to have any meaning and purpose in my life that I would have to live by a set of spiritual principles. Principles that I thought were beyond a person like me. Reserved, perhaps for men and women who came from a more righteous beginning. What I learned was, regardless of where we begin, with each step along the path a new and wondrous life could be had.

These principles are perhaps as old as civilization and are practiced by many faiths and found in many holy books. I found them transformational and so I share them with you...

The beginning of the journey was a recognition of my personal failure. I had to become hopeless to become willing to seek after hope. I had to believe that there was "something" beyond me that loved me more than I could comprehend, that wanted better for me than my petty, selfish desires could dream of. I also had to practice, on a daily basis, living the way that this power (GOD) would have me. So, in practical terms, what did this mean? It meant that I could no longer bulldoze my way through life inflicting my will on others. It meant that I could no longer claim to be the victim of circumstance or those around me. I had to be accountable for my own actions and how they affected others. I would also have to admit my faults, confess my shortcomings, ask for help from God and those around me to overcome them and then to set right the harms that I'd done. This is not an easy way of life for me and runs contrary to what fear tells me to do. It is however VERY liberating!

What happened for me is this... the world grew from a small dark place of selfishness and fear to one of abundance, light, and love. A world where fear and self-pity are replaced by faith (courage), hope and the desire to serve others. To help them begin their own walk, from child to adult, along the path of freedom. To see them grow tall!