MaineWorks Circle: When difficult material comes up about loss, and pain, and anxiety I hear it as the language of grief. Much has been lost. Youth. Integrity. Relationships. Financial well being. Health. Friends, siblings, spouses ...dead from the same dreadful substance use disorder. A voice in me wants to fill in that space and say 'It is not all a loss.' But that can be dreadfully difficult to find when you feel pain.
Pain seems to be shortsighted and sometimes prevents that long view of recovery...the need for immediate results can be a bit blinding. So maybe we need to stand shoulder to shoulder and remind one another. It is not all lost.