Mariposa Recovery Services

We ask, all so often … what is the meaning of life. I do not question life’s circumstances instead I trust that God has a purpose for all things. I trust that God is everything but of all things God is love. Corinthians 13,
“If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

If someone hasn’t told you today that they love you. I do.

At Mariposa Recovery Services, we’ve come to believe and hope by raising awareness, we'll see a decrease in the overall deaths caused by fentanyl. We need to realize that the elephant in the room is deadlier than anything else that’s killing people in every community around our county.

~Justin

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller calls to legalize fentanyl test strips as overdoses rise Attorney General Tom Miller wants Iowa to legalize fentanyl test strips and expand access to naloxone as drug overdose deaths rise in the state.

How Older Adults Can Get Help With Addiction How Older Adults Can Get Help With Addiction

God is everything or we are nothing . When it feels like the weight of the world is bearing down upon our shoulders God may let us bend but he will never let us break. When we are in the brink of a storm - always remember how beautiful the sunshine is after a storm. I have come to believe that each storm is a lesson and lessons are repeated until they are learned. The lessons we endure guide us to our purpose and in recovery it is impossible to go through a storm without self awareness that we are being built for something greater through Gods grace.

What Are the 12 Principles of AA?

What are the principles of the AA traditions? Are they the same as the “12 Steps”? Essentially, yes, the 12 Steps and the 12 Principles are one and the same. I like to refer to them as the principles, as recovery is not always linear. Moreover, they are each just one word. Each of those single words represents a step in the journey to long-term recovery and sobriety; however, they are also open-ended enough to make meaning for the individual. Let’s discuss the 12 principles more in-depth.

1. Honesty

When you think of the first step, the quote “the first step is to admit that you have a problem” may spring to mind. To an extent, that is spot on, but the first principle is more than that. Honesty refers to the need to be honest with oneself, with the group, or loved ones, but most importantly yourself. As addicts, we exist in a frame of mind where carrying on is believing things like “I can stop at any time” or “I don’t drink/use more than so and so, so I am okay.” Being honest with ourselves and others is the first principle because it is the door to letting yourself pursue all of the other principles that flow from that place of authentic self-reflection.

2. Hope

If you are wondering, “what are the spiritual principles in AA?” — maybe out of a place of hesitancy, or maybe just curiosity — this principle speaks to that question. After acknowledging your problem through the principle of honesty, the next step is to find hope in a Higher Power. Let’s be honest — the term “Higher Power” weirds some people out, especially if they do not believe in God or a monotheistic being of some variety.

In recovery, you will likely come across many people who have a “Higher Power” that is not a God at all. For example, I once met someone whose Higher Power was the sunrise. With that said, this step comes naturally to those who already have a tangible walk of faith. The importance of hope, especially so early in the principles, is that it acknowledges that there will be bad moments, stumbles, and hard times. A Higher Power offers faith and hope that is bigger than you — a comforting thought if there ever was one.

3. Surrender

Once that Higher Power is identified, the next objective is to surrender to that greater force. The the AA big book states that we make “a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” Carrying forth this principle is to continually acknowledge that you are at the mercy of a Higher Power — you, your mortal flesh, and your desires no longer come first.

4. Courage

During the fourth step, we embark on a part of the journey that takes immense courage — detailing past mistakes. This is not done to dwell on the past but to acknowledge (in keeping with the principle of honesty) what we have done in a life of addiction. It takes courage to face these aspects of ourselves, but it is part of the process to remember that moving on does not equate to forgetting.

5. Integrity

The next principle of integrity is also very much in line with the principle of honesty. It is where the individual takes the moral inventory of sorts formed in the previous step and admits these events and regrets first to God (or a Higher Power) and then to themselves, followed by another person. Integrity, in my understanding, refers to not only being honest but living honestly.

6. Willingness

This step and principle is very spiritually focused. It is also extremely important. The book states one should be “entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” It is so imperative in recovery that one be willing to let go, to be forgiven, and to forgive oneself. This principle speaks to that readiness.

7. Humility

Step seven, humility, is essentially the openness and humble approach to being released from the past. It focuses on relying on the Higher Power to help you remove or step further away from your shortcomings. It also zeroes in on the idea that people have a very high opinion of self during addiction. Even if you feel a sense of worthlessness deep down while using, you may act very selfishly and self-importantly to get what you want — something myself and all of those in recovery understand.

Humility opens you up to the idea that “self” is very small in the grand scheme of things and the tapestry of life with God or your Higher Power. As somewhat previously alluded to, this reduced self-importance often feels less like something being taken away and more like a relief… a gift, even.

8. Love

The principle of love doubles down on many of the previous principles, such as surrender, humility, and honesty. In this step, you make a list of those you have wronged in the past and in your addiction. This can be extremely challenging and even painful, but it is the principle of love because it is done out of a place of empathy and compassion, as you must be willing to plan on making amends wherever possible. Though the concrete idea of the “service” principle comes later, the principle of love begins the process of thinking with a loving service mindset.

9. Responsibility

Just as the love principle focuses on empathetically making a list of those wronged by you in your addiction, the ninth principle of responsibility urges you to make amends with whomever possible from that list. You acknowledge that you need your Higher Power’s help to do so, and you begin walking in a more mature manner, knowing that you must take responsibility for your past and future actions.

10. Discipline

This step builds on the previous responsibility principle. While it is challenging to make a list of your wrongs, intimately acknowledging them and seeking to make amends and ask for forgiveness when possible, doing so continually and over the long term takes discipline. This applies as you remember scenarios that need to be addressed but also speaks to a new way of approaching regret or wrongdoing in the future. This allows the AA process to not only change you for the season of initially getting sober but for the long haul. It is as transformative as it is restorative, as I well know.

11. Awareness

One of the more abstract principles, the step of awareness, is imperative to the longer lifetime journey of recovery. It is a personal concept that may vary from person to person, but I understand it to mean that you continue on in the world with whatever degree of normalcy you are experiencing in your life in recovery without losing awareness of God or your Higher Power. Awareness of the moment, not the past, not tomorrow but right here,right now conciously relating to the moment.

12. Service

The last step of AA is to pay it forward through the principle of service. Oftentimes, this comes in the form of sponsoring or mentoring those earlier in recovery or facilitating AA meetings. The founders of AA often talked about the intrinsic need for all of those in AA to work with another. It can also, of course, speak to the general acts of service you are called to do in the world through love and a changed heart.