An Engaging Journey
Recovering from addiction is possible. Thousands of people have successfully recovered. It has been done and it can be done again. The process can be replicated. If others can do it, so can you. All it takes is dedication and commitment to understanding stages of addiction recovery that fully need to be reflected upon and acted upon. Recovery is within reach for you and everyone. To understand how recovery truly is ––– what happens and how things go ––– you simply need to understand the following:
- Recovery involves acknowledgement and acceptance.
For recovery to take place, one has to acknowledge it first. One has to face reality and admit that he or she has become addicted to a substance or a behavior. This very realization will spark the process of healing and recovery. Acceptance needs to take place first. Once a person has acknowledged and accepted that something is indeed wrong, the intention and the doing of right things, one after the other, comes next.
- Recovery involves committing to change.
After acceptance, comes commitment. After making it clear that something is wrong, an essential part of recovery is committing to change. No true recovery can take place if a person is not solid in his or his conviction that change needs to take place already. This is an everyday practice that will take up more of your time and energy. You need to be committed to doing the right thing. You need to be committed to start anew. You need to be committed to achieving your goal.
- Recovery involves personal responsibility.
You will have to face yourself and all the consequences of your decisions and actions. You will be fully in touch with reality and own responsibility over yourself and over your life. This will be the part where you will no longer blame anyone. You will face the fact that all was under your full control and it was all your doing that led to your addiction. You will do it in the healthiest way possible; without shame, hate, or anger.
- Recovery involves the creation of a support network.
No recovery will be possible without a solid support group. Recovery involves admitting to yourself, every single day, that as much as your life is your own full responsibility, you cannot possibly go on this journey all alone ––– you need help and support from other people and it’s perfectly fine.
- Recovery involves changing one’s behavior.
Upon fully acknowledging and accepting the grasp of addiction in your life, you will then have to fill your life with good habits and good behavior. You will learn how to cope with challenges and stressors without having to use drugs or resort to any behavior that is related to addiction. Your recovery will involve replacing bad habits with good ones. To do this, you will have to gain clarity on your destructive patterns and triggers. You will get to know them one by one and work on conquering them. This will involve a dedicated commitment to rewiring your brain.
- Recovery will involve conquering your cravings.
Addiction has your brain warped and disoriented in such a way that your body now desires a substance or doing an addictive behavior more than anything. It craves one thing in the most irrationally and overwhelmingly possible way that you simply lose control of yourself. This huge part of addiction is one thing that you would have to deal with every day. You will learn how to manage it to avoid relapse.
- Recovery will involve developing good and healthy relationships.
Recovery will require that you patch things up with all the important people in your life. It will be essential for your healing to build and maintain relationships that can give you solid and consistent support. It will involve honest communication, vulnerability, and apologizing. You would have to directly address issues without being hurtful or abusive to others and to yourself.
- Recovery involves facing underlying issues.
Addiction is but a symptom of a deeper psychological issue. A person can only ever become addicted if he or she is running away from something. What are you running away from? What did you run away from? Recovery will have you face your deeper problems. You did not get addicted because you enjoyed doing drugs. You got addicted because doing drugs allowed you to escape. Recovery will have you acknowledge the need to stop running away from your problems and hurts. Recovery will have you feel everything that you need to feel to heal.
- Recovery will involve a change in your lifestyle.
Recovery will not end upon leaving a rehab center. It will be an ongoing process that will require the need for you to develop a new lifestyle. One that is free from addiction and capable of facing life’s stress with healthy coping skills. You will need to come up with a new life blueprint that does not involve any form of drug use or addictive behavior.
- Recovery will involve continued learning and growth.
Recovery will have you face yourself in the most authentic way possible. It will get you in touch with reality like never before. You will do things that you never thought you’d be able to do. You will become a whole new different person who will continue to learn and grow. Recovery will have you embrace a life of transformation and improvement. You will have a brand-new life that is committed to just being as authentic, transparent, and honest as possible. You will have the capacity to continuously learn and grow.
Reference:
Substance Abuse Treatment
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64208/
