“We are now in a position to truly carry the message, in a powerful and joyful way, to fellow addicts who are still suffering. This is possible because we ourselves have become living proof that the program works.”

– Life with Hope, second edition, pages 63-64

Once upon a time, there were addicts who couldn’t stop smoking pot, though they didn’t enjoy it anymore. The daily craving overrode their frustration. They couldn’t imagine what life would be like without pot. They must’ve told someone of their plight, because they found a meeting and started to get a glimmer that there were others like them, who’d been addicted but now were free of this substance. The talk about God was abhorrent at first, but the prospect of being free was greater, so they continued to go to meetings, and slowly understood what the Steps could do, and that it was OK, even necessary, to let others help them on this journey. To be free of the constant craving was the first of many wonderful gifts.

Final thought: May I today remember the freedom I enjoy, and reach out my hand to the still-suffering addict.