I had 25 minutes to get to my doctor’s appointment across town. I decided the bus was faster than taking the subway. My lighter body took me to the bus stop quickly. Having lost 96 pounds, running felt so good that I kept running.

Well, I got to the bus stop, but the bus was late. I was disappointed. I waited. When the driver finally arrived, he announced that he wanted to take a five-minute break. I thought, “A break! I have to be somewhere!” So I took off running to the subway.

As pedestrians started to blur and sirens screamed past, a small thought whispered: Is this abstinent behavior? Am I getting a high from all of my hurrying?

I got off the subway and ran four blocks uphill. Sweaty and out of breath, I arrived at the building just as the bus rolled by.

Easy does it never was so clear. A little bit of rest and patience would have achieved the same results. In my recovery, my higher power tells me to rest and have patience. Sometimes I want to speed up my recovery, but I have learned that my way is difficult and my higher power’s way is easy. God is driving my recovery bus and I simply need to get on and ride.