Promotors of Health, Prosperity and Stability
Recovery is a Process...
Feeling Powerless
Feeling hopeless and alone as if we had no one to turn to or nowhere left to go, we had hit bottom. Driven by the pain and misery we sought help and support being unable to stop on our own or even control ourselves. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired emotionally, physically and spiritually. Most of us were filled with guilt and shame. Our lives had become unstable and unmanageable. Our characters had become as if we were Dr. Jekyll and the other growing ever so larger, Mr. Hyde. Most of us lived a double life and could not keep the balls juggling much longer if at all. Our finances where in trouble, our relationships were estranged and we felt like we could give no more. We were empty and void. Desperate and despondent we put down the "Blamethrower". We took some accurate account of our place in the scheme of things and the lives of others including our actions and the consequences burdened by us upon us and those incircling us. We could no longer have a pity party ...no pour me. No should haves. We could reach out and extend our hands and begin to hope. We could abandon ourselves entirely and ask for help and guidance.
Addiction is a Disease
The definitions for addiction and addict are many but these caught our eyes: devoted to; Attatch or devote oneself as a servent; Give up; Voluntarily attatched to; Bound to. Slavery...that's ours. We agree with many in the medical profession and in a lot of the current scientific research on addiction. To paraphrase them, they do say that we have an incurable, chronic (progressive) and fatal disease that will, when left untreated, lead to death. We also believe that what we have is a disease which manifests itself as an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body. Dis-ease. A mind we can not trust when it comes to addictive thoughts. The strongest prescription is not taking the first one, dose or action ...which sets off the chain of events and starts another spree. Then we're off. Either it be a drink, street drug, prescription medicine or whatever the nature of our addiction. Most of us can not stop again till we hit bottom. With the maximum consequences being psychiatric hospitals, jails or death. What's even worse is we may even survive in our addictions for twenty-five or more years till we are spared with death.
When we are honest we can also see that the majority of us were mentally ill to some degree. Our behavior while active in our disease of addiction was insane and out of control.
Welcome to change
We wish to bring people along our journey of freedom. We want to help others regain health, strength, prosperity and stability. Reality dictates that it takes time and effort to recover. There is no microwave recovery. We are building new lives by coming out of the shadows and standing in the light.
Assuming we are now ready to give up our addictive substance of choice there are guides we can use to help ensure our recovery. We should change most if not all of who we were. Changing the friends, the places we used at and the things attached to our addiction. These things must be resisted for they are triggers and reminders that keep us from building a new lifestyle with a new mind set. This is not always totally possible, no easy task, but we do our best to shield ourselves from negativity and temptation. We try to make new associations, contacts, relationships and new safe places to spend our time. We can begin new activities like hobbies or start up old ones.
We should be open-minded, willing and most importantly honest. Honest with ourselves and the nature of our illness and the fact of never being able to successfully use again through a daily reprieve. For most of us it has become a matter of life and death!
A Power Greater Than Ourselves
Another solution touted in conjunction is spiritual in nature when we turn our will and life over to a Higher Power of our understanding. We probably have been beaten down to a point of humility where it is easier to surrender to the fact that we are powerless over our addiction and we need a source of Power to aid our will. Some of us use our friends and family, others seek professional help like therapists and psychiatrists. Some will begin in a rehabilitation center then go onto outpatient and further still a halfway house. Many find success with one of the 12 step programs like AA, NA, and CA. Some people use programs like Smart Recovery© and others may choose to use self help books. Some find God in church and change. Most apply some form of all or part of these suggestions. Whatever it takes. Most of us are unable to stay in recovery without support and guidance from those who have been there before us, those who understand or who have been trained in this field.
Again we say to try to and find a power greater than ourselves, a Higher Power. God. Some people cringe at religion and the idea of God. We are speaking of spirituality and about a God of our understanding and personal to each one of us. God can fill you when you "clean house" and will take care of that empty feeling and that "more" material state of mind. That's just the tip of the iceberg. The wonders won't cease to amaze us!
Yet some of us are atheists or agnostic so what we can do in that situation is use someone who has more recovery than us. We can use our sponsors, therapists and outpatient groups and a 12 step program as a whole (the fellowship), etc. as our higher power. These people and institutions, and organizations are practicing and staying in recovery showing us the path to travel. They can be used as our higher power either because they're trained or they've been there, made it out and are attaining knowledge we need. Therefore, logically, they can substitute for they know more than us and thus are a power greater than us...this will make due for a time.
Maintaining Recovery
For most of us recovery doesn't just happen. We don't recover one day and forget the whole thing the next. We recover one day at a time and sometimes a second at a time if needed. It is a daily venture upon which we do certain activities to maintain our recovery. Some call it "keeping it green, keeping it fresh, memorable to the five senses. We have what can be called a built-in-forgetter that allows our brain to discard painful memories. If not we could imagine all of us walking around in a protective plastic bubble wrap literally covering us from head to toe and women would never give birth a second time. So what do we do to maintain that memory of our bottom, our worst addictive state, when we clean up and start to get our lives back on track. Well its been suggested to do at least something to do with recovery on a daily basis. For example attending 12 step meetings and or being involved in another program. Reading recovery literature. We get in touch with our Higher Power. We remember that bottom, use gratitude and get honest. We can ask ourselves, "Do I want to pick up the whole 'package' of consequences with its misery and pain."
Summary
There are many paths towards recovery. It is a difficult process of acceptance, change and progression. Our philosophy here is one that follows the 12 step method. We are not affiliated with any organizations or institutions and are not professionals. We are people in recovery helping others who wish to be in recovery from their substance or activity of choice. We have a support link for emails to accept comments and to try and answer questions.
Top of Page