It probably is. In a way though - it’s actually about one core fear:
I’m afraid of what I don’t know.
The idea of “higher power” is something none of us ever fully understands. So - honestly, we can sit and get stuck on what we don’t know there forever.
But the idea of “what I could be if I was sober” is just as scary - there’s just as many unknowns - and it’s tied to the idea of “am I worthy? Am I good enough / worthy enough to have a peaceful, stable, healthy life?”
Sometimes we worry about the first one when we should really be spending our time on the second one. Whether there’s a higher power or not, I can’t change anything about it; but I can change myself. The higher power “debate” is just another way for us to avoid the work that really scares us: personal work on our own sense of self and worthiness.
As addicts we have been living lives of escape. We’ve been running because somewhere, at some point, we started to believe we weren’t good enough to live life fully. And through our addictive habits, we numbed ourself long enough we started to think we weren’t worthy of our full, healthy life. We live in shame and regret.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can have a stable, healthy life. And it starts by exploring what we are, what we did, what we feel, and what we can do.
My advice would be to put a pin in the higher power question for now. You can come back to it sometime if and when you want to. Spend your time now learning who you are and what you are, and discover what you can do. Sobriety programs are life changing for the vast majority of addicts in recovery, because they give us a community of belonging, helping us to feel less alone.
Here’s a list of some options:
Resources for our recovery
Am I hearing you right? In what I said above? Are you feeling nervous about what’s happening, where to go; about next steps?