Have you ever seen a news report of a search and rescue effort?  The neighbors form teams that walk or ride horses through field and forests.  They comb through valleys and hills looking for the lost child or trying to connect with a lost hiker.  They’re hoping against hope that they’ll hear a sound or see a flash of clothing that leads them to the lost soul.  The delirious joy when the lost has been found can be never be forgotten. 

Or do you remember the time  when a toddler fell into a deep well?  Rescuers worked through the night to dig a parallel well, racing against time to get to that baby.  They stayed focused and used all their skills to rescue that baby before it died.  And they won.  The sight of that small child being placed in the arms of his mother will be in millions of hearts forever. 

Being an Food Addiction Recovery Advocate is no different in many ways.  ARC Members come into the community without hope.  They’ve been lost in the brain fog of food addiction for decades.  They’ve been exploited by weight-loss scams, food manufacturers, surgeons, and even their own families.  They are beaten down. They’re exhausted.  They’re traumatized. 

What they need is deep compassion but also expertise. Effective recovery is so gentle.  All along, they've just needed gentleness, compassion, respect, and truth.  They need frequent reassurance that they’re safe from deceptions and delusion.  They’re safe from corporations taking their health to create profit.  They’re among people who really understand and are deeply sympathetic. 

There is no parallel for being an Food Addiction Recovery Advocate.  It’s a new role based entirely on kindness, compassion, wisdom, and patience.  The relief each new ARC Member feels is reward enough to be an Food Addiction Recovery Advocate.  The opportunity to earn a good income and hang out with like-minded people doing this is almost unbelievable.