“…we think that if we can just get enough food, enough sex, or enough money, we’ll be satisfied and everything will be alright.”
– Basic Text, page 77
In active addiction, many of us spent our lives chasing more—more drugs, more money, more pleasure—believing that if we could just get enough of something, it would finally fill the emptiness inside us. Yet no matter how much we consumed, that spiritual void persisted. Recovery teaches us that this emptiness cannot be filled with material things; it requires a deeper, spiritual solution that can only come from a connection with a Higher Power.
During our addiction, we constantly searched for ways to fill the deep sense of emptiness that haunted us. Whether it was through drugs, alcohol, relationships, money, or material possessions, we believed that if we could just get enough, we’d finally be satisfied. But as the Basic Text reminds us, “Even too much was never enough.”
This unquenchable thirst drove many of our behaviors in active addiction. We could never truly enjoy what we had because we were always seeking more. No amount of drugs, sex, food, or money could ever satisfy that deep inner hunger. The more we consumed, the more we needed, leaving us stuck in a vicious cycle of wanting and taking.
What we didn’t realize at the time was that this endless pursuit wasn’t about the drugs or material things at all. It was about trying to fill a spiritual void—a longing for wholeness, love, and acceptance that we were seeking in all the wrong places. The problem was not external, but internal. No matter how much we tried to fill the emptiness with things, it only left us feeling more empty and disconnected.
Recovery offers us a new way of addressing this emptiness. Through the Twelve Steps, we come to understand that no amount of external success or pleasure can fill the void we feel inside. Instead, we need a spiritual solution, one that begins with surrendering to a Power greater than ourselves. It is only through this Higher Power that the emptiness within us can be healed.
As we stop using and begin to turn inward, we recognize that trying to fill the emptiness with external things was never going to work. The solution lies in surrendering our will and our lives to the care of our Higher Power. This process of surrender allows us to open ourselves to the love, strength, and direction that our Higher Power has to offer. Rather than trying to grab more and more to feel fulfilled, we start to receive the free gift of love that has been waiting for us all along.
Over time, we notice that the emptiness inside us begins to soften. We no longer need to chase after things to feel whole. Instead, we allow our Higher Power to fill that void with love, peace, and a sense of purpose. This doesn’t happen overnight, but as we continue to work the steps and cultivate a conscious contact with our Higher Power, we find that the inner emptiness that once consumed us begins to fade.
Once we’ve experienced the love and healing that come from our Higher Power, the question becomes: What do we do with it? The natural instinct might be to hold on to that love tightly, afraid that if we let it go, we’ll lose it. But recovery teaches us that love, like all spiritual gifts, can only grow when it’s shared. If we try to keep it for ourselves, we smother it. If we give it freely, it flourishes.
This is the spiritual principle of giving to keep. In recovery, we learn that the more we share the gifts we’ve been given, the more they grow within us. Whether it’s offering support to a newcomer, sharing our experience in a meeting, or simply being there for a friend in need, each act of giving reinforces the love we’ve received from our Higher Power.
By living in a state of generosity and openness, we find that our inner emptiness continues to be filled—not by taking, but by giving. We learn that we don’t need to hoard love, attention, or success to feel whole. In fact, the more we give these things away, the more we receive in return. This shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance is one of the most profound gifts of recovery.
The world of addiction was one of taking—always needing more, always feeling like there was never enough. It was a world defined by selfishness, isolation, and the constant pursuit of something external to fill the internal void. In contrast, the world of recovery is one of giving and receiving. It’s a world where love is abundant and freely shared, where connection and community replace isolation, and where we no longer feel the need to grasp at things to feel complete.
In recovery, we have the choice to live in this new world of giving and receiving. Each day, we can choose to embrace the fullness of recovery by sharing the love, support, and guidance we’ve received with others. This doesn’t mean giving away everything we have or neglecting our own needs; it simply means living with an open heart, willing to offer kindness and support to others, knowing that this generosity will come back to us in ways we never imagined.
By choosing to live in this world of giving and receiving, we stay connected to the spiritual solution that fills the emptiness within us. We no longer need to look outside of ourselves for validation or fulfillment because we’ve found it in our relationship with a Higher Power. And as we continue to share that love with others, we reinforce the healing and peace we’ve worked so hard to achieve.