Hello Livengrin Alumni and friends of Livengrin!
The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, kids are back to school, and the weather is getting cooler. Fall is upon us. For many of us, this time of year is greatly anticipated. Pumpkin spice flavored everything is available, and many of us are getting ready for Halloween. Kids go trick-or-treating wearing all kinds of costumes and masks. Many adults join in the fun and games.
Wearing a mask on Halloween can be fun and spontaneous. However, “wearing masks” in recovery can be a huge block on our road to recovery. What is wearing a mask in recovery? For many of us, we had to adapt to our former life styles. We had to change how we interacted with other people in our life. We put on a mask for different people and different situations. As our disease progressed, the belief that these masks are our “true” selves became a delusion and we lost sight of who we once were, what we believed in, and what God wanted us to be.
When we enter a fellowship and learn how to apply steps and spiritual principles in our lives, the layers of masks start to recede. We start to become “okay” with who we are and what our Higher Power gives to us. In AA, page 417 of the “Big Book” talks about acceptance. NA has a wonderful pamphlet called Self-Acceptance. CA talks about forgiving ourselves in their reading, “Reaching Out”. No matter what fellowship we find, or whether or not we are in recovery, we can all be more accepting of ourselves and the people around us by peeling off our masks. We can help others have more self-acceptance by showing them that we are okay with ourselves. Change comes from within. With that change, we learn to pay back what is due. Then, we pay it forward to those in need. Tending to the needs of others can be done through volunteering or can be as simple as a smile and a “hello”. By setting a good example, and by paying it forward, we can help someone else remove a layer of their own mask.
“I've worn a lot of masks in my life; to hide my pain, to hide my fear, just to hide. But, the scariest one is the mask I have to wear to hide my shame. Because the person I became when I was using did some terrible things, and I don't want to wear that mask ever again. With the help of my fellowship, sponsor and 12 steps, I now have the hope, faith and courage to be mask-free.” ~ Mikey D.
Don’t Be Fooled By Me
"Please don't be fooled by me. Don't be fooled by the face I wear, for I wear a mask. I wear a thousand masks, masks that I'm afraid to take off and none of them are me. Pretending is an art that is second nature to me, but don't be fooled, for God's sake don't be fooled."
-- Click here to read the full poem by Charles C. Finn.
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