It’s 7am on Monday the 25th of July and I’m at my laptop… I was slower to rise this morning than usual…which might seem like a weakness….but actually it’s a celebration. It’s a celebration of how positively fun filled my recent days have been and my dragged approach to waking up might be tiredness led, but inside my heart, I feel energy & loads of it. New energy has built up in the crevices of my broken heart which is always good while travelling the road to recovery.
My usual routine in the morning is completely dictated by one process. My eyes open & instantly my brain & my body move swiftly into the kitchen area where I’m completely focused on one ever reliant and ever friendly kitchen kettle! While standing watching it boil & while in full conversation with my little doggie Daisy who is beginning to wake in her corner bed - a thought crossed my mind. The thought being the title of this substack for today…. ‘We’re all on a road to recovery’. As humans, we face battles regularly. Some are big battles. Some are small ones. Some are unseen ones. Some are unheard ones. Some are painful and unforgettable. Some are the making of us. But we’re all constantly calling on ourselves and others to dig deeper when faced with challenges & if we can just hold on & find that resilience to survive, with a little bit of self analysis and work (and sometimes we need more than a little), often we can even improve on ourselves too if we can seize that moment. As I was thinking of the idea of facing challenges and how we deal with them & also the road to recovery, I also was led to think of those who in my own life I’ve witnessed down through the years who have met trouble in their life, & how, sometimes sadly, they have not made the right moves to heal themselves. See for my little yet long enough time on this earth, I now know the difference between people who hit hard times and like a sailor on a boat, you either call for help, put on your life jacket, help others put on theirs and work as a team to find your way back to the safe harbour or often in this world, you see the opposite play out. You see a sailor hit rough waters, maybe even a storm, and they refuse to call for help…. they say they don’t need a life jacket…often throwing the safety item overboard and decide in that moment, that they can make it back to the harbour on their own and in their own way. And as much as I’d like to think that we can all make it through storms on our own in our own ways, the wisdom of my age but I feel it’s more the wisdom of my life’s path has taught me that none of us can make it safely back to the harbour without taking help from our friends nor a willingness to look within ourselves. For me, both aspects are vital for not only our survival in bad times but also the healing process to take place inside us when hard times hurt us. See the thing I’ve learned more times than I wish to recall yet I know it’s been the making of me, is that LIFE HURTS! Life is tough. Life is cruel. Life is hard to understand. Life will throw you out of your own boat more times than you will want to think about but in every time you fall, in every time you are thrown out of that boat, there is an opportunity not only to learn but an opportunity to rise! And it is in each time you get back up, with your eyes open and your heart willing to learn, you will see the big picture more and more in each knock. See the big picture is vital for us to be able to not only survive but also to heal and recover & learn. Those are the three aspects I try to remain focused on while travelling this life’s path and yet I get them in the wrong order lots of times and also I make mistakes & many of them, just like everyone….I still try to keep my eyes focused on the small steps on my path while opening my mind to the big picture. For me, it’s not only become my way of coping but my way of living and in many ways I know, through much work, lots of tears, pain, hurt, stress, panic & even much doubt, it has brought the best version of myself forward and isn’t that what we are all looking for? Isn’t that what we want for ourselves? Isn’t that what we want for others? We want to bring our best selves forward not only for ourselves but particularly for all who love us & to leave our stamp on this earth, as people who chose to be better. To be stronger. To be hope for others to know that life is indeed a road of recovery but as you work your way through it, you can and will become a better version of you…and when your final day on earth arrives, you will present as the best version of YOU!
I wish none of us had to go through hard times. I wish we could all stay safely in the boat of life and float along a calm sea forever without problems or obstacles or fears or worries entering our space, but we all know this is not possible. This is not life. Life is not like that. In many ways the reason I love spending time watching nature in action is that I find it is saying the same thing over and over. It is saying don’t give up, just keep going. The sea gushes in. The sea gushes out. The sea gushes in. The sea gushes out. It doesn’t change its pattern even when the wild winds roar and then the sea still gushes in and the sea still gushes out. It never gives up. It just keeps going. Just like our lungs breathing in and out over and over. For me, the sea is like us and as I sat on the beautiful unspoilt beaches of Achill Island over the last few days, I thought deeply to myself that no matter what happens to us or no matter what happens to me, we must work our way through the obstacles, hold our space, be gentle to ourselves, lean on others and eventually our pattern of breathing, healing and recovering will naturally take over. We don’t need to fight with ourselves. We don’t need to fight with each other. We just need to wait. We just need to keep going. We just need to remain patient & eventually the waters will calm & your mind will clear and your heart will heal….
This same coping mechanism is equally in the sky above us which you all know I’m obsessed with. See for me….the sky holds all my emotions. When the grey skies fill, I know that feeling well…When the sunshine takes over, I know that feeling well. When the raindrops fall, I know that feeling well. When the white fluffy clouds surround the light, I know that feeling well. When I look up and feel nature working its magic & my belief that heaven is just a glance above my head, it gives me great strength. See… life is like the sky. Ever changing. And we never know what’s around the corner. We never know when those grey clouds are going to move away and the light is going to appear again but what we do know is that they will move because like the sea, they are constantly changing and yet ever dependable just above our eyes sight. I absolutely love the sky & it’s my life’s motto to ‘keep looking up’ both at the sky and also the physical movement of raising my chin up & looking up towards others. There is nothing to gain from looking down. Yes on the harder days, its natural for us all to let our heads dip but I believe it is then the duty of a good friend to help you lift your head back up and equally my duty to myself to work through what is leaving me feel weighed down and in time, my chin will rise again and up I go. My head is looking up again & I can see the beauty that is around me. I can see the beauty in nature that surrounds me. I can see the beauty in the people around me. I can see the beauty in recovering. And I can see that we are all constantly like the sky on a road to recovery.
Whether your road to recovery is from your heart been hit with grief, loneliness, loss, relationship breakdowns, anger, hurt, trauma, self doubt, addiction, financial strain, illness, mental anguish, the list is endless for us all…There are so many reasons in this world and in this life that can cause us pain. We are all being constantly thrown out of the boat. See my thought that originated at the kettle at the start of this piece, was that we are all on a road to recovery and it’s important to remind ourselves that struggle is part of all our journeys on this earth. Nobody escapes the hard stuff. Sometimes we might think that we are on our own but that is not the case at all. Just like the sea, so many creatures live below and within the waves that we can’t see from afar as the waters gush in and out. Just like the sky, so many creatures, humans and life forms depend on it and its ever changing mood & so many are looking up at it.
Life really is one constant road to recovery and in each effort to recover, we are changing ourselves. And that is not a bad thing. Healing comes from recognising something is astray. Something is wrong. Something is hurting. And by looking at it. By talking about it. By sharing it. You are healing. And it is within healing that the heart and the soul learns. And it is learning, we become the better version of ourselves. To be wrong. To be right. To be stronger. To be weaker. To be sad. To be happy. To recover. And to start all over again. That is the gift of our humanity. Never doubt yourself when it comes to asking for help. Ask for help when you feel weak. When you are strong again, you will be the one giving the help. You are human! And you like me, are constantly recovering from what life throws at us but in that recovery, in that healing process, you are becoming the best version of YOU! And that is what this life is all about!
Keep looking UP!
You are doing great! And I’m so proud of you!
Thank you for reading this weeks substack and I hope I’ve reminded you, that you are an amazing human and you are never alone travelling this road. I am here with you and together we are recovering & together we will make this life, our best life!
Until our next letter,
Love, light and loads of it,
Your friend always,
Lou x
And Winnie 💖
***Love if you might like to join our ‘ Living and Laughing with Lou’ community over on the Facebook page here - daily messing, fun, laughter and a whole lot of amazing people all waiting to welcome you onto the bus. I also act the maggot on Instagram here and you’ll find me throwing shapes on Tik Tok too ;)
We're all on a road to recovery.....