If you haven’t been through a depression, it’s probably hard to believe recoverers when they say they were lucky to have had the experience.

It is hard for those who haven’t been addicted and then begun true recovery to understand what these recovering people mean when they call themselves lucky. They laugh freely at their weaknesses, call themselves “drunks,” and exhibit attitudes that are the envy of those around them. Dr. Scott Peck refers to recovering addicts as lucky because “ they were kicked into community.” Their illness brought them to their knees, forcing them to admit their frailties and to reach out to others for help.

In the beginning, a great many of us believe that what makes us human is our mind. But once we admit our own human weaknesses, we come to believe that what makes us human is our heart. When we are broken, we learn patience and endurance. When we share tears, there is time and space for acceptance.

Life is not the wick or the candle; it is the burning.