Great Venue for Recovery

There are days where I must marvel how far I have come in such a short period of time. This time last year I was counting down the days until my release back into the free world and today I am admiring, enjoying, taking in each and every day as I live in this free world. Today was one of those days where a feeling of serenity, peace and bliss came over me as I was actually working. The recovery center I work recently acquired another recovery center and today I had to meet the fire inspector as the first step in the licensing process. The new facility is located in one of the most desirable areas of Southern California and as I approached this became clearly evident.

I have resided in Southern California since 2001 and prior to that I spent one year attending the University of Southern California so I am not exactly a native to this area but I do know my way around. Today I was in one of the places I have driven through several times but really never took the time to take in environment. I had time today to not only take in the surroundings but to truly “be in the moment”. I made the less than hour drive without any problems since I was going after rush hour and this area has a “back way” as an alternate route. I took this “back way” and in the past I would rush to get to where I was going but not today. I kept my eyes on the road but also on the very beautiful area.

I arrived at our newly acquired facility with plenty of time to spare prior to the inspection. I spoke with one of our managers and this person was very grateful to have been transferred to the new facility. I can see why this area is very popular with many other alcohol and drug treatments facilities since it is a natural for recovery. The surrounding area is very peaceful and serene. Today was one of those extra special nice days in terms of the weather and even the air quality seemed better in this area than the air quality from 40 miles away. I guess having the Pacific Ocean a mere five miles away helped the air quality and the peacefulness of the area.

I took a tour of the facility and was very impressed; this was a very good acquisition and it will certainly aid in the recovery of many clients. The inspection could not have gone any better and it was one of those days where everything had come together. I remained at the facility talking to some of my fellow colleagues but it was time for me to return back home.

I did take the time to explore the area and within five minutes I found myself in awe as I was staring at the Pacific Ocean from a beautiful palisade. I made my way down to the beach and had to take the time to stare at the ocean. Earlier in the day I had a conversation with a person who is also in recovery and they were telling me their “Higher Power” is the ocean because it is vast and can take whatever is thrown at along with being very inspirational. I could see that this was a great choice for a “Higher Power” because as I stared at this marvel my mind was in a meditative state. This was truly inspirational and I can see why the real estate in this area is one of the highest in the nation. I watched many people jog, bicycle and walk their dogs along the beach and each person had a smile on their face. I had a very big smile on my face and had to laugh knowing where I was this time last year yearning for these moments and now these moments are a reality.

It was time to get back home and as I drove back I continued to take in the environment. I am truly blessed to be able to reside in area where nature is at its finest. I know I take this for granted because up until today I had no idea how powerful this area really was. I drove through this area a number of times in the past but never slowed down to take the time to “take” everything in. I am sure I didn’t take everything in today but this was a wonderful start. Nature is indeed powerful and earlier on in my recovery I did choose Nature as my Higher Power because in my opinion this is a creation of Higher Power and by stopping and really absorbing this Power I realize there is most certainly Higher force in effect. I am NOT this higher force although in the past I thought my mind could control anything. Thankfully that illusion has been thrown out all thanks to recovery and I am so happy to be on the right road of recovery.