The most vital aspects of a successful recovery are three well-known spiritual principles—hope, faith, and love. In fact, they are the keys to life—not the mere act of existing, but the magical and miraculous experience that is life.

During active addiction, we experience the opposite of life. We are in a stage of death and dying, willingly engaging in acts of self-destruction. In this state, we are the walking dead—physically killing ourselves and void of the life force that is hope, faith, and love.

But, when we seek help, get sober and begin our journey of recovery, we see our hope slowly restored in that first step and all those that follow, as well as the success stories shared by the recovery community around us. We begin to find faith in ourselves, the universe and a Higher Power. We learn to love ourselves again or, possibly, for the first time.

As we walk in hope, faith, and love, ultimately we find ourselves—our spiritual being and the essence of all we are and have arrived to be on this planet—fully restored. The passion for our soul’s purpose is regained without shame or second-guessing. We simply know, and we press forward without cause for relapse.

Truly, this is complete and successful recovery—a journey that depends on these three vital spiritual principles of hope, faith, and love. Understanding nearly half a dozen ways in which your recovery relies on them can assist you in implementing them into your daily practice of this new normal.

Hope Is a Mainstay

It truly is the foundation of recovery. In fact, it is all too often an individual’s or family’s last hope when all else—moderation, self-help books, brief periods of abstinence, changing geographical locations, etc.—seemingly fails. Treatment and recovery provide hope for a new life and, in some cases, the hope of living for the first time.

Faith, Hope, Love, and Recovery Begin Within

Of course, upon entering into recovery, one begins to realize that external factors do not determine or control our choices. In fact, we begin to note that not even the treatment program, therapists or other helping professionals are responsible for our success in recovery. It is us who decide when we are ready for successful recovery, and that typically happens when we decide to have faith in ourselves to do what it takes, hope that we are not a lost cause and love for ourselves enough to take that first step. So, just as faith, hope, and love resides and begins within, so does our recovery.

Faith Moves Mountains

We truly have the power to manifest what we desire into being. We can do so by simply stating our intentions and holding faith for that which our heart desires to arrive. For instance, the moment we decide we are ready for recovery, we are essentially attracting recovery to us. Everything begins to fall into place for us to receive that which we have faith we are ready for.

Faith allows us to begin speaking gratitude for that which we have spoken for ourselves as if it has already been received. In this way, when we seem unable to go to the mountain, we simply hold faith that we can move the mountain to us.

Fear (the Opposite of Faith) Is a Saboteur

To further emphasize just how reliant our recovery is on faith, we can look to the opposite of it—fear.

Fear is the saboteur. It is that thought that prevents us from entering into recovery, keeps us thinking we are either hopeless or absolutely capable of doing it alone. And, though sobriety or abstinence may indeed be achieved without assistance (depending on the substance or process), a complete recovery proves more challenging to acquire and maintain.

Where faith moves the mountain to us, fear runs far from it—keeping our goals, dreams and soul’s purpose far out of reach.

Love Conquers All

But, if there is one thing that can conquer fear, it’s love. In fact, love is the absolute key to everything—certainly successful recovery.

Where fear is the darkness that covers our light and keeps us lost and searching without the light from within to show us the way, love is the light that shines brightly and instantly transmutes it all. Darkness cannot exist where there is light, and fear cannot exist where there is love.

As such, loving ourselves first keeps us compassionate toward our journey to today, releases our shame and helps us live in the now with no regrets or resentments from the past and no fear of the future.

Love that begins within and moves without fear conquers all that threatens our recovery.