Recovery is a return to normalcy or a normal state. A gaining back of something lost. Recovery is most often referred to when defining the process of gaining freedom from a life-controlling circumstance or addiction.
Addiction creates a controlling sense of fear: Fear of withdrawal, fear of change, fear of interference with your plans and continual using, fear of confrontation, fear of the future, fear of arrest, fear of loss, fear of one’s true reality, fear of death (although not for most in late-stage addiction), etc. and the list can go on and on. All of this fear creates an isolation for the user in both the physical and psychological sense of the word.
The opposite of fear is love. Many addicts are under a dysfunctional illusion of love- that they are in love with their drug, and the feeling that it provides them (or enables them to not feel at all). As they have such a love for their drug, they are able to overcome certain fears and obstacles by acknowledging this love for their drug. For example: most addicts will make irrational decisions for obtaining their drug. They will act out of desperation, disabling their fears from stopping them from having their love affair for the drug sustained. They will take ridiculous risks for their addiction out of their love for the high experienced through the drug.
It is key to realize that love enables one to conquer fear. Therefore, recovery for addiction requires unconditional, non-dysfunctional love for escaping/overcoming the fear-based “road blocks” that have secured the user inside the cell of their addiction. Redirect your love toward your life and well-being and away from the drugs.
-Each addict is a hero in the making. Nobody can aid addicts and those suffering at the hands of addiction better than people who have been there, done that, and overcome it all.
-Jesus recognized the individual characteristics of each person and the potential for each person to serve Him in scripture when seeking His disciples.
-Christ must be presented to the addict in terms of relationship, not as a limitation or set of rules. Jesus desires a personal relationship with each of us as individuals.
-Every person needs to be made aware of God’s presence in their lives; not just the presence, but a ruling presence.
-The place we give God in our lives will determine the place that everything else has in our life.
Emotion is a powerful force. This force, however, can be very damaging and destructive to ourselves and others. It is capable of being very helpful as well, but only if harnessed and utilized properly. Addicts are individuals that simply cannot process emotions properly. They are unable to handle emotions in a non-detrimental way to either themselves or others. Our brains are sensitive and amazing organs. We rely on them for every single function of our bodies. Without healthy brain function, we cannot process information properly, navigate our senses, or even interpret our perceptions of the world correctly. The most important part of our brains for decision-making, emotion processing, memory, and interpreting our sensory perceptions is the frontal lobe. This part of the brain also happens to have the highest concentration of opiate receptors of any part of the brain. In other words, opiates destroy our brain’s literal ability to think properly, remember correctly, and make decisions clearly. Whether due to an undeveloped frontal lobe, or a deteriorated/mutated frontal lobe, all are caused by drug use and abuse.
When we look at our life, our situation, our hopes, etc., it is healthy and normal to get angry. Getting mad at various people, situations, laws, etc. can be good therapy for emotional release. But, this can easily add to the negativity that is already overwhelming us. Just as we must redirect our love, we must learn to channel that energy created through our anger, utilize and harness that energy, and direct it toward benefitting ourselves and our life situations. Realize that the only person responsible for your life and situation is yourself. Though others may have contributed, or situations have provided for or contributed to your situation, you have been the only person making decisions along the entire way that effect you and where you end up. You control you. No other person is obligated to obey or serve you. Only you must obey and are obligated to serve you. So forget about everyone and everything out there in this world, and focus on you! It is not about what others say and do, or how somebody else thinks or treats you- only how you control yourself, how you respond, how you react, and how you allow yourself to be affected by such things and people that matters. Nobody is going to manifest in your life and take control of your brain and body to change things in your life for the better. Only you can do that- and you should, you must do that! In other words, take a step back from yourself and your thoughts. Start partaking in the greater self-awareness and deeper self-understanding that is available to each one of us if we would only consciously activate it. Take the effort and the micro-seconds of time required to do so. Identify why you are thinking what you are thinking, why you feel the way you feel, and there you will have the ability to understand yourself. To check yourself. Many profound discoveries arise from doing this.
Truth is truth whether somebody believes it is or not, wants it or not, or disagrees with it or not. This is, in itself, a profound truth- that all we believe and think is irrelevant to pure, actual truth. Truth is not something we create, but something we respond to. And because most truth contrasts our self-centered beliefs and thoughts, we deny the truth, distort it, ignore it, hide it, and despise it. But it is truly incredible the kind of relationship one can have once they acknowledge and align themselves with the truth.
The truth for an addict is that we cannot control our emotions and thoughts in response to many things. We cannot trust ourselves, we cannot prove ourselves reliable, trustworthy, or accountable to our own actions. Only when we begin to accept and embrace our truth: which is that we need help, that we clearly have a problem, and that it is so powerful we deny having it and serve it with all our time and energy, we may then start getting mad. We can use our anger, frustration, shame, regret, embarrassment, etc. to propel our transformation into a sober reality.
Our addiction has led us to a point in life where we require a purging of all the toxic waste, negativity, and painful memories absorbed through our time using drugs. A purification process is needed for our renewal to begin and for our healing to occur. This is hard, this is challenging, but it must be done and will absolutely be worth it. We must surrender! Give it up! The drug wins and we are not going to play anymore. Game over, walk away! Nice try, but screw it, I don’t care, it’s not worth dying over. It is bigger than me and I am not going to waste any more time or energy or money over it. Life is too big to be enslaved to one little thing like a drug, and I want to see more of it, I want to feel good again, and I want to be happy and at peace on my own without drugs. Removing ourselves from the equation and allowing nature to take its course. We must humble ourselves; become meek. Putting an end to our selfish attitudes, our ungrateful and hateful, disinterested and victimized nature. Hopelessness and helplessness will remain dominant in your life until you finally succumb to your truth: that your addiction is bigger than you alone, and that you will absolutely never be able to live your life happy, successful, peacefully, or in any kind of satisfaction until that drug and your desire for that drug no longer exists in your life.
Many of us have been turned into a different person than we used to be, a person that maybe we do not want to be, or never thought we could be because of a substance. We must acknowledge that we are not designed for addiction and drug abuse. It does not meld with our nature. It is a poison. Drugs are a device of the deceiver, the evil one. It forces and entices us to throw away respect, morals, love…doing away with such things creates suffering. Drug use equals suffering every single time. It’s easy to explain. Are you tired of suffering yet?
HELPING ADDICTS BLOG . WORD PRESS . COM 