Addiction Recovery: What Have We Become?
This is going to seem like one of those 5 degree of separation rants but just hang tight for a minute: I had posted an article titled Things You Didn't Do Because You Got High. I guess this got my friend The Discovering Alcoholic thinking and he then posted Learning From The Past, Living For The Future (excellent post by the way). Then Kevin Bacon posted an article...no, just kidding.
What Does My Being A Copywriter Have To Do With You?
Nothing really but you could probably tell from the fact that I have a blog that I kind of like to write. What you guys probably didn't know is that I am actually a copywriter providing page content for several websites...so what if one of those is my husband's? It still counts damn it.
Anyway...I'm trying to establish myself a little more and get my work out there in the public eye. The reason? Money. I would like to have copywriting become my full time career...by career I mean actually make some real money from it.
Addiction Recovery: Everything Is Copacetic
You know, I'm going through this period of time in my addiction recovery when everything feels copacetic. This is not to say that every aspect of my life is perfect right now...it's not. So how am I feeling so great?
Being Present: The Importance Of Staying In The Moment
If you are familiar with addiction recovery, you know that living life one day at a time is a major part of a successful recovery.
I'm here to say that in order to be happy, healthy, and have a little peace of mind in life you need to not only live one day at a time...you need to begin being present. Learn to stay in the moment.
Trying To Remember I Have Human Imperfection
Sometimes in life we don't handle situations in the best way possible. Sure, we may work on handling things as they come but that doesn't ensure that how we handle things is always going to be the right way.
I have made a particularly big mess of things in my life lately. While I think it's important for people to practice taking responsibility for their choices, as difficult as that may be, I think it is also very important to remember that none of us are perfect and if in hind site you see that you haven't handled a situation in the best possible way... you need to be forgiving with yourself.
Are You Self Aware?
Weird question I guess but in my opinion there is nothing more important to someone's recovery than being self aware.
Think of how it used to be. You went through life numbing out every inkling of self awareness so that you wouldn't have to face your true thoughts and feelings.
I think that overcoming that need to block out your true thoughts and feelings sums up what recovery is all about. So with that said... are you self aware?
How Watching TV Taught Me To Delay Instant Gratification
This is going to sound bizarre but I realized that watching TV has taught me how to delay instant gratification.
In a world where everything is available NOW, it's no wonder that we grow to expect things right now. That includes our gratification.
What I realized this morning while I was thinking about my absolute most favorite show of all time, Lost, is that even the way I watch TV has changed since entering addiction recovery. So let me tell you how TV has taught me to delay instant gratification.
Addiction Recovery: Sickness or Backsliding?
In active addiction, part of my avoidance tactics included taking something like a small nagging headache and turning it into a reason to miss work, lay in bed all day and pretty much take a vacation from life.
Since those minor aches and pains show up more and more in active addiction...I spent a lot of time "sick".
The tendency to either fake or exaggerate illness as an avoidance tactic did not go away just because I stopped taking drugs.
It seemed that anytime I had an extremely full day or I wasn't in that great of a mood, my brain would want me to pretend that I was sick as a way of getting out of life.
It took a lot of hard work but I can say that since entering into addiction recovery I have not given into these impulses and have not once been "sick" for the sake of laying low. I felt that I was able to modify my bad behaviors. But let me tell you what I am experiencing now...
Avoiding Isolation In Addiction Recovery… It Aint Easy
So it has been 1 year, 5 months and some change since I entered into addiction recovery. I have overcome a lot of my bad behaviors and addictive thinking patterns but there is one huge behavior that I am having trouble shaking... isolating.
We all know that active addiction and isolation are old chums and that they fit together so well. One directly feeds off of the other and eventually take over your whole being leaving you with... addiction and isolation.
Well I guess I am living proof that just because you take away one, it doesn't mean that the other will follow. It seems that isolation will hang out until you actively push it out of your life. So how do you go about avoiding isolation in addiction recovery?
In Addiction Recovery, What Do The Winners Do?
Do you consider yourself one of the winners? I received this question via email from someone that is just entering into addiction recovery. This person is seeking the experience from others as an aid to their own recovery.
Going by the name of my site, What Winners Do, one might get the impression that I am someone with answers...I'm not. I don't think there are too many answers in addiction recovery, mainly there are questions.
Recent Posts
- I’m a Drug Addict Not a Journalist
- Who Do Feelings Still Scare The Shit Out Of Me?
- Amy Winehouse In Rehab…Again
- Addiction Recovery: Where Are You Along Your Road Of Recovery?
- Report Cymbalta Withdrawal Symptoms To The FDA
- The First Year Of Recovery: Where I Came From…Where I’m Going
- Relapse:The Warning Signs Were There
- Riding Out the Ups and Downs of Life
- Reach Out and Touch Someone…Online
- Addiction Recovery: Building Your Self Confidence
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