Intentional Recovery

Looking back over 2020, I see so much good… and so much bad. Have I accomplished what I wanted to do? Have we made a difference in recovery?

This year has been rough for many people. The numbers keep going up- overdose, relapse, and yes, Covid. We have been shut down, isolated, socially distanced- exactly what we don’t want in recovery. This is not meant to be negative, but before we can go forward, we need to look at where we are.

I feel like I have been stalled, almost drifting. I spent summers on Lake Champlain, growing up. I remember watching the sailboats on the lake- beautifully moving with the wind. Their sails were full as they passed, until the wind stopped. If the boat was big enough, the motor would be started and they would slowly continue on. Other times, the smaller sailboats would sit, hoping and waiting to catch a breeze. I watched as they drifted slowly, usually in the opposite direction.

As 2020 progressed, I started playing it safe. I took my sails down and focused on the waters close around me. Fear and anxiety do that to us. I took my eyes off of my destination, and drifted in the current. Not where I wanted to be.

We need to be intentional.

The Principle of the Path (Andy Stanley) says that it is not our intention that matters, but our direction. We can have all the good intentions in the world to move forward, but if we are not facing the right direction, we will never get there. We need to be intentional and choose our direction.

There is more. The sailboat must face the direction it wants to travel in. But without the power to move forward, it will continue to drift. We have to be intentional and take a step forward.

What do you want to change about 2020? Personally, not Covid- related. What did you want to accomplish, that maybe you didn’t? Do you need to take a step in recovery? Think about it, how do you answer that question? What do you want to change?

Nothing will change if we are not intentional.

Before we begin the new year, let’s stop drifting. What direction do you need to face?

Recovery is one of the most important journeys we will ever take. It is life or death, it changes families and impacts communities. You cannot move forward in recovery without facing the right direction. You will not recover if you are simply drifting in the current. You have to be intentional.

You are important enough to intentionally pay attention.

If we keep playing it safe, will we make a difference? If we drift around, how many opportunities to move forward will be missed? How many people will float around us instead of being touched by our lives? My word for 2020 was SPEAK. I had every good intention to speak hope and truth in my community. I even turned and looked in that direction. Then the world changed. I let myself stall out, drift and maybe even float the wrong direction. I was not INTENTIONAL. I don’t want to drift through the next year too.

My priority will be to take steps forward in 2021, to stop the drift. I want to see change.

Nothing will change if we are not intentional.

What do you think? Are you drifting?