Three Kinds of Better

We come for the weight loss,
for recovery of the body.
That’s all we’ve sought
our whole lives through,
convinced once the body’s right
everything else falls in place.
We find when we come
they speak of other recovery…
of the mind. That we’ve believed
we were hopeless, helpless,
unworthy of love, of good, of peace.
But we hear stories of others
who found a way out,
whose minds were healed,
who quit thinking those thoughts,
began to accept that we might
possibly, perhaps, be worthy
of respect, of love, of something real.
And finally we find our spirit healing,
our peace becoming something
we not only have but can share,
our souls calm, filled with joy.
And, by the time we actually find
the body recovered as we came for,
our spirits and minds have been there first,
welcoming the rest of us home.