Participating in your recovery can seem daunting. All the different ways suggested to show up can be overwhelming. Attending weekly recovery meetings and attending weekly therapy sessions can seem like time wasted to what you really want to do. Meeting with a sponsor and working the 12-Steps, while being of service to others along the way may seem like too much to handle.
What you need to know is that your recovery program is not going to work itself. You will have to be proactive and be involved in taking actions that will be vital in relapse prevention, which is why using recovery tools works. There are also deep-rooted reasons for taking charge of your life in your recovery. All you have to do is participate in your recovery to reap the promises that sobriety offers.
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You Can See How Strong You Are
Plain and simple, getting sober is not for the faint of heart. Recovery takes a concerted effort that pays dividends to what you will get back in return. You will see how far you have overcome your difficulties in showing the strength you had to administer in hindsight. Making changes to do the right thing takes a courageous and willing person, which proves that you are.
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You Can Learn How to Live Life on Life’s Terms
Going back to drinking and using drugs is the easier way to work through challenging times. Taking the initiative to do something other than pick up drugs and alcohol when life gets rough will start the process of picking up your recovery tools instead. Life will always happen, and how you respond to the low points is everything. Gaining momentum in sobriety will prove that you can get through anything without having to numb out to the pain through drugs or alcohol.
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You Can Establish Healthy Boundaries
One tool that will be advantageous to your recovery is learning how to set boundaries. Without putting limits on relationships, personal space, and beliefs, for example, life would be total chaos. Through personal boundaries, you can take back some of your misdirected power. Part of the reason that drugs and alcohol felt like the right choice was so that you could escape. Dealing with unwanted confrontation without knowing how to draw the line constructively and appropriately can set you back. Establishing boundaries will keep you in check while being true to who you are.
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You Can Practice Spiritual Principles
Drugs and alcohol kept you from acting in the manner that you should have or wanted to. Being under the influence takes away inhibitions that can lead to poor judgment, crass language, and adverse behavior. On top of that, your thoughts became negative, especially in regards to how you viewed yourself. Practicing spiritual principles in all your affairs can fine-tune how you portray yourself to others and yourself. Honesty, self-discipline, and humility are just a few ways you can change by trying to become principled in your life. Your thoughts, actions, and communication will change for the better to prove you are working a program.
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You Can Help Others
Although you may not think you have anything to offer others, by putting some days together sober, you can be an example of how recovery works when you work through the process. You do not have to be an expert. You just need your experience to give others hope. There are commitments that you can take, so meetings can regularly resume for the newcomer. The thing to remember is that being of service to others will, in return, help you to stay sober.
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You Can Build Meaningful Relationships
Overall, relationships can be complicated, although having relationships in recovery can prove worthwhile when you seek the right people to band with. Even the relationships with family can improve if you worry solely about yourself, work through the past, and learn to forgive. You can have phenomenal relationships by seeing what you can change about yourself and being the best you can be around others.
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You Can Find Your Purpose
For someone suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, their purpose is to remain loaded for as long as possible, so they do not have to deal with real life. Once you start participating in your recovery, you find new meaning in your life, revealing your real purpose. For some, their advocacy will be in recovery, and for others, they may get the job of their dreams or build the family they have always desired. Clarity can better find you with the initiation of your recovery.
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You Can Be Present
Addiction causes someone to be afflicted regarding their past and have significant anxiety thinking about the future. You can never be in the present moment under the influence because your brain is incapable of doing so. As you start your recovery path, you will still have affliction and anxiety, but at least you have a choice to be present when you are sober. Taking each day for what it is means that you will become grateful and accept that you get a chance to recover.
There is nowhere better to be than participating in your recovery. Some days are better than others, but nothing is so wrong that a drink or a drug will ever make better. Life becomes worthwhile again by taking the same actions that others who have had success with staying sober have shown to work. The benefits will be endless on what can happen when you participate in your sobriety and let the process improve your life.
You can start your recovery today and start participating in your recovery by using our “Expanded Recovery” to your advantage. If you, or someone you know, are struggling with drugs and alcohol, we have a way out of your addiction’s plight. Valiant Living will provide a safe, supportive haven in the earliest stages of recovery. Get the individualized attention you need for stabilization, assessment, and discerning the best next steps in your journey. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call Valiant Living today for more information at (303) 952-5035.
