It’s tough to want health for someone we love when he or she isn’t well.  We pray and wish and hope that somehow health will overtake sickness in a blink of an eye.  And when that sickness is addiction, our own frustration can climb as we wish that the addiction would just go away.

So much of what happens in this life is out of our hands that it can be difficult to accept hard times.  To me, it’s a lot like watching the Aspens wash the Sangre de Cristos in rust, but wishing they’d just stay green.  The rust indicates that soon the Aspens will be grey; winter’s cold and dormant time will soon follow the falling leaves.  There’s no amount of praying or wishing or hoping that will prevent the changing time: Winter will have its day.

Here’s the thing: While sometimes becoming sick is out of our hands, and while we can’t wish it away any more than we can wish away winter’s chill, most of healing depends upon how we respond to the ailment.  Addiction isn’t any different.

We can respond to addiction with anger and frustration or we can accept it as the disease that it is.  We can love the afflicted through their time of sickened hell, or we can yell and scream and hate. Really, it’s understandable to respond to an addiction with hatred. It’s just that negative energy feeds negative energy.  But, if we respond to the disease with love for the afflicted, we may be able to accept that recovery takes time and then respond with guiding patience.

We can’t wish winter away, but we can do our best to keep warm and understand that Spring’s blooms will turn our mountains green again.  We can’t wish addiction away, but we can do our best to guide our afflicted towards a healthy recovery.  If we open ourselves to accepting that addiction is a disease, there’s a good chance we can learn about paths towards recovery and health.