Finally, We Were Safe.

Read this from Narcotics Anonymous on my Facebook tonight and thought I'd share the quote below, which I thought befitting of being in the throes of addiction, whether it's to narcotics or alcohol, my two worst vices. Active addiction is a scary, lonely place. Numbing yourself in active addiction becomes your first life priority, because the world HURTS. It's amazing how substance-centered your life becomes. Apart from completing basic, essential life tasks and responsibilities, the rest of your existence is placed upon scoring the next dose, the next drink, until you either face death straight on or let yourself fall off the cliff and into the arms of people below who care enough to help you save YOURSELF.

"The life we lived in the dark world of our disease was a terrifying one. It was as if we were perched on a tiny ledge thousands of feet up the side of a mountain. The drop was straight down. We never dared to look up or down because we so desperately feared falling. All we could do was feed our disease and tremble in fear. We were stuck. There was no room on our ledge for anyone else. We were all alone. Every day, little bits and pieces of our perch would fall off. All we could do was wait.

Finally, out of desperation, we looked up and saw thousands of people urging us to climb. They reached down and created a human chain for us to climb. All we had to do was let go of our perch and take the hands extended to us. We stood, looked up, let go, and took the hands. We were safe."