Spirituality In Addiction Recovery: This Little Light Of Mine…I’m Going To Let It Shine
Well if you've been paying attention at all to my ramblings you know that I have not really found religion in my addiction recovery. I have however grown a greater sense of spirituality in my addiction recovery.
For me, this spirituality is sometimes intertwined with a belief in god and other times...not so much. But I just wanted to share with you a belief that I have formed in my recovery and share with you something that just made it even stronger.
Addictive Thinking: The Way I Deal With Pain Has Changed
I kind of touched on this subject before but I have realized that since being in addiction recovery, the way that I deal with aches and pains has really changed...for the better.
Who is My Higher Power
If you have read anything about narcotics anonymous/alcoholics anonymous or if you have attended their meetings then you have heard of a "higher power". To some this is God. But what is someone who isn't really into god supposed to do.
I’m Not an Addict, I’m Chemically Challenged
Was it hard for you to admit that you were a drug addict or alcoholic? It wasn't very hard for me to admit it to myself. That part actually came pretty easy. It was saying it out loud to another person that I found difficult.
Addiction Relapse: Stumble Don’t Fall
It's not very often that I fall, but sometimes I stumble. Yesterday I stumbled. I could have fallen if I let myself. Something inside wouldn't allow myself to fall. Without thinking about it I steadied myself before I fell. I got my balance back and was able to stay standing on my feet instead of hitting the floor. But I did stumble. I drank beers.
Just Don’t Do It Doesn’t Work…How Do We Tell Young People About The Dangers Of Addiction?
After reading a post over at TDA about Lame PSA's Blamed For Drug Use, I got to thinking about how we tell young people about the dangers of addiction.
The answer...we don't really do that at all. We tell them that if they use too many drugs they will lose their personality. We tell them not to drink and drive. We tell them that Oxycontin ruined our lives.
We even go so far as to tell them that if they smoke pot while babysitting the child will drown in the pool (seriously, have you seen this one?).
What we don't do is explain the true reasons why for some people drinking and drugging becomes an addiction that can take over their entire life and sometimes lead them so far down that they never come back up.
But how do you explain the dangers and warning signs of addiction to young people?
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...
Modifying Bad Behaviors
Everyone has some behaviors that they don't like about themselves. Mine slipped under my personal radar for a very long time thanks to my drug addiction. Well...now I'm in addiction recovery and am becoming increasingly aware of certain things I don't like about myself that could be changed with a little effort.
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.
Why Have An Addiction Recovery Blog?
I am pretty open with people about being a recovering addict but what I found myself hiding was the fact that I run an addiction recovery blog. It just seems like some people just don't get it. They ask "why have an addiction recovery blog?".
Recent Posts
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- Change Is Inevitable
- Are You Still Keeping Secrets In Your Recovery?
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- Breathing A Sigh of Relief
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- Hey Look at My Narcotics Anonymous Key Tag, I’m a Drug Addict
- Accept The Things I Cannot Change
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