EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.

Thomas Merton

The one certain thing in a family addiction crisis is uncertainty. 

Unanswered questions, concerns and fears swirl around a family system like objects tossed about in a blinding windstorm because addiction is an illness that impacts every family member.

That is a hard way to live.

When my family was in the midst of long-term addiction issues, life was constantly in upheaval.

We were always anxiously waiting for the next thing to happen.

And happen it did.

Over time my family sought many sources of help to maintain balance as we lived with the fallout of addiction-driven choices. But to be honest, it was hard to do.   

It took faith, courage, hope and the hard work of change time and time and time again to get us through. 

We recognized that as a family we needed to face the challenge of the illness of addiction head on and not allow it to consume us. The choices we made at that time to set boundaries with love helped us to deal with the symptoms of the disease that were consuming our beloved son.   

We needed to accept the uncertainties and grab hold of the possibilities they offered all of us for growth and change.

When my beloved son experienced his Gift of Desperation- AKA God –  life radically changed for all of us.

It was like we could breathe deeply again. 

My family’s life became more balanced. We were able to enter into a time of healing and once again enjoy each others’ company. 

Looking back, as strange as this sounds, the lessons learned during those years of challenge grew us as individuals and as a family. It taught us something important about the power of love and change.

I would not have chosen this challenge for myself or for any member of my family, but those years of struggle bore the fruit of lessons well learned. And we bring those lessons forward into our present with the sincere hope that we can use them to help others struggling in those same challenges.

How does faith, hope and courage accompany you in your journey with the family systems illness of addiction?

How does your family set boundaries with love?

Please share here. We can all benefit from our collective experience, strength and hope.