This time next week...

Yesterday was the worst day I've had in a long while, I received some news that isn't totally confirmed, but, if so, could change my whole life. My world was spinning, stomach spasming. I was losing control. What should I do? It was at that moment I made the best decision I've ever made, no I didn't score, I telephoned the girl I love. With her reassurance and guidance I regained control.

As a 'recovering addict,' I've come to realise that previously my natural reaction would have been negative. I would have seized the opportunity and used this as an excuse to have used drugs. Part coping method, part escape. I know from experience that if I had used, my situation would have got a lot worse, very quickly.

It actually turned from the worst day, to a day in which I learned an important lesson. I learnt that it isn't material things that are vitally important in my life. I am not defined by my house, my car, my job, my bank account, my clothes, they are all external, all things that can be taken away, and therefore I shall not put my treasure in them. It's whats inside that is important, vitally so. Nobody can touch that. So take away my money, my health, my job, my material world, in the big picture they are unimportant, they shall fade away in due course anyway, but my spirit shall always be joined with God's, and I will always love. In those places does my treasure Lay, and my treasure has set me free.

Who knows where I'll be this time next week, maybe good, maybe bad, it's actually irrelevant to my internal well being. That's all I need to know!

All you need is love

Last night I enjoyed an evening of great home cooked Chinese food, good company and conversation. It was the birthday bash of Dave's (director of Wired In) son, Sam. While outside chatting to Chris, who is also a recovering addict, a friend of many years and another of Wired In's volunteers, we realised how far we had both come in the last few years.
It was Chris that said "Isn't this great? Spending an evening in a beautiful house in the country, with our families and loved ones around us, celebrating a birthday. We wouldn't have been doing this a few years ago!" Chris had a look of pure happiness on his face, and a peacefulness about him that was so obvious it shone from him. He was bang on, life now for both of us is more than just enjoyable, it's fulfilling.
There's a lot to be said for coming through something that takes you to the brink of death, my priorities, the things I cannot live without have changed. It's not wealth, social standing or what other people think of me that's important anymore, I've realised that material goods will never make me complete. All I really need to be fulfilled in life is love, and by that I mean all types of love, God, family and Eros. Anything else that's in my life is a bonus. It's the simple pleasures in life that both Chris and I enjoy most of all, and that make our lives complete. What I like most of all about this concept is that anyone and everyone can experience it, if they want to.