Writings of Recovery

The moment between the exhale and the inhale.

Less than a second. That’s all it is. The moment between the exhale and the inhale.

Or is it?

In that moment, I have a choice.

In addition to inhaling that vital air that sustains my corporal being, I can choose to inhale love, joy, peace, resentment, fear, pettiness, annoyance, patience, anxiety, addiction, honesty, control, surrender, faith, doubt, anger, recovery.

This choice is not always easy or obvious. I have learned the difference between responding and reacting and how the 12 steps have helped me create the pause that allows me the opportunity to choose my inhales.

Less than a second. That’s all it is.

Or is it?

As I work step eleven and build the discipline of prayer and meditation, that moment between the exhale and the inhale increases in time and intention. I become more aware of this space between breaths. More aware of my Higher Power’s presence and voice, more aware of the possibilities of what could be, and what is, in recovery, in my life and relationships, in our world at large. In this moment between the exhale and the inhale I can choose freedom or bondage. Response or react. Higher Power or disease.

For Today, I will breathe deep. Hold. Release deep. Hold. And honor the moment between the exhale and the inhale.