Tag Archives: Addiction

Stop Drinking and Create a New Life For Yourself

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How can you stop drinking and create a new life for yourself?

To the alcoholic who is trapped in a cycle of addiction, this question can seem baffling, even preposterous.  But there is hope for a better life and overcoming alcohol addiction if an alcoholic is willing to follow a few simple steps:

(Note that there are a million ways to get sober, this is just one suggested path.  But it’s one that worked for me):

1) Go to a treatment center for detox – This is especially important if you are alcoholic, as alcohol withdrawal can be extremely dangerous and even fatal.  Yes, it can kill you not to drink in some cases, so best to get yourself under professional care if you are going to be going through detox.

There are other benefits to detoxing in a drug rehab as well….for example, you will usually have access to a residential treatment program as well, and a proper detox facility can potentially assist you with medications to help with withdrawal symptoms and sometimes even with drug cravings as well.

2) Stay for residential treatment as well – this is what used to be a 28 day program, nowadays it usually only lasts about 2 weeks or so.  Still highly recommended for the sheer value of giving you a moment’s peace from drug addiction and alcoholism, as well as to give you a chance to learn about recovery and some coping skills for when you get out.

3) Follow their recommendation for aftercare – If the treatment center recommends long term treatment, then go to long term treatment.  Pretty much everyone who goes against these types of recommendations usually regrets it.

4) Focus on staying clean and building a recovery network in early recovery - This is early recovery.  Stay clean and network with other recovering addicts and alcoholics.  For most people this will mean heavy AA or NA meetings and/or sponsorship.  This is the foundation of your life in recovery.  The trip to rehab was just a small blip on the map; now you have to live the rest of your life.

5) Transition to a purposeful and creative life - Start branching out and doing new things, as well as revisiting old dreams.  For example, my sponsor in early recovery pushed me to go back to college in my second year of sobriety, and I’m so glad he did.  This is about living life, not just hitting meetings.  Diversify and explore.

6) Embrace the creative life in recovery – Once you see the power of the creative life in recovery, you should embrace it as your long term solution.  Find creative ways to help others….bonus points if they happen to be recovering addicts and alcoholics, although this is not necessary.  Seek spiritual growth, but also tend to other areas of your life, such as nutrition, mental health, physical fitness, and so on.  This is about empowering yourself to succeed in multiple areas of your life, not just limiting yourself to “spirituality” or “recovery.”

7) Approach long term sobriety holistically - Now you have completely transitioned out of “early recovery” and you are creating a new and exciting life with passion and purpose.  Seek health and balance in all areas of your life with a holistic approach.

Go here for more info on how to stop drinking.

My Personal Philosophy of Addiction and Recovery

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Here is an overview of some of the beliefs that I have sorted out in my first 7 years of recovery from addiction and alcoholism:

1) Addiction is complicated. It is a complete mess, and turns your life into a complete mess.  We don’t become addicted overnight.  Addiction is complicated.  Therefore, recovery is necessarily complicated as well.

2) You need a replacement strategy. I was passionate about using drugs and alcohol, so I need to find passion in my life in recovery to replace that with.  Anything less will cause me to relapse.  Why be bored with life, when you could potentially return to the ups and downs of active addiction?  We need to find passion in recovery.

3) Those who find long term success in recovery actively create a new life for themselves.  This is more than just working steps and abstaining from chemicals and growing spiritually.  It is purposeful living with growth and momentum.

4) The treatment industry is broken, and needs something to supercharge it.  Everything we know about treating addiction is wrong.  There is nothing wrong with the 12 step model, but the way we implement it is clearly failing for the vast majority.  Young people in particular need something new and fresh in recovery.  We can do better.

Just my 2 cents of course.  Anyone have any thoughts on these ideas?  Let us know in the comments!

The Path of Least Resistance

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How does “The Path of Least Resistance,” by Robert Fritz, apply to recovery?

In a number of different ways. This book is pure magic for the recovering addict or alcoholic.

1) “You go through life taking the path of least resistance”

We can easily apply this principle to our drinking days or when we
were actively using drugs. Medicating ourselves with chemicals was
the quick fix; the instant gratification. For the addict mind, using
chemicals almost always represented the path of least resistance.
Fritz argues that if you try to make major life changes, chances are
good that you will eventually return to your original behavior — if
that behavior still represents the path of least resistance.

2) “The underlying structure of your life determines the path of least resistance”

This is huge. What this means is that if you quit using drugs and
alcohol, but the underlying structure of your life doesn’t change,
then you will return to your old ways.

3) “You can change the underlying structure of your life”

Recovery in action. When people refer to “doing the footwork” in
recovery, they are not talking about making superficial changes.
People who experience a genuine lasting recovery from addiction do so
through a complete change in personality; a true spiritual experience
that changes them from the inside out. Major changes, not superficial
ones. Fritz is arguing that you can indeed change the underlying
structure of your life. Recovering addicts and alcoholics who have
achieved long term sobriety have done exactly that.

When I finally got clean and sober, I did so by making truly major
changes to the underlying structure of my life. Here are some
examples of those structural changes:

1) Entered a long term treatment center and lived there for 20 months.

2) Started attending 12 step meetings every single day, sometimes 2 or
3 meetings per day.

3) Left all of my old drinking buddies, changed all of these unhealthy
associations permanently and completely

Those are major structural changes, especially living in long term
treatment–along with everything that doing so entails.

4) “You can learn to recognize these key structures”

We must increase our awareness and practice mindfulness. We can also
use our sponsor or our peers in recovery to help us see these
underlying structures.

5) “Attempting to use a psychological solution for a structural problem is not going to work”

This has huge implications for recovery. A psychologist might try to
solve your alcoholism through psychotherapy, and figuring out what
made you an alcoholic in the first place. Or, a therapist might try
some emotional therapy techniques with you, in an attempt to get you
to retrain how you react to situations. These are psychological
solutions.

But there is a mountain of evidence that points to addiction as being
a structural problem. This becomes especially true the longer someone
has been using drugs or alcohol. This is because their whole life
starts to revolve around the addiction. For example, an alcoholic
will tend to associate with other heavy drinkers, find friends and/or
a spouse who is codependent (and thus supports their drinking), and
generally set up their life so that it enables them to drink all the
time. Because addiction is a set of patterns, it really is a structural problem.
When the finally decide to quit drinking, all of these underlying structures that made
it easy to drink are still in place.

Structure and the Creative Process

Fritz says that it is easy to create with structure but difficult to
destroy or “take away.” So instead of asking “how can create a
structure in my life to get rid of my drinking problem,” the question
should really be phrased more along the lines of “how can I create an
underlying structure in my life that leads to spiritual growth?” The book
also talks about the difference between oscillating (moving towards a
goal and then sliding back) versus creating towards a resolution. The
idea is to find structures that lead to a resolution, instead of
finding ourselves trapped in oscillating structures that have us
making short progress followed by a few steps backwards (relapse).

The implications for recovery here are huge, and this is just chapter
1 out of 19 chapters!

You can also purchase this book right here if you’d like.

What is it Like in Drug Rehab?

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A lot of people are hesitant to go to a drug rehab, because they’re not sure what to expect there. It can feel like a pretty big step to check in to a place, or even to make that first call and set up an appointment to try and get help. Here’s what you need to know.

Relax: There’s no reason to be afraid

The thing about drug rehab facilities is that they are controlled environments, thus making them a relatively safe environment for recovering addicts. Not only do they take extra measures to keep drugs and alcohol off their grounds, they also do everything that they can to maintain a safe environment beyond the scope of substances. This means that most facilities do not tolerate violence or threatening behavior, and most have trained staff that know how to handle those types of situations.

Some people are nervous that they might be looked down upon or belittled by the staff at a treatment center…..this is extremely unlikely, as virtually all facilities employ a mix of recovering and non-recovering staff, so many of them have been in your shoes before. They know exactly what you’re going through and how scary it can be to get clean and sober, so they will only be kind and supportive–never demeaning.

Detox

Most drug rehabs have a detox area that is medically supervised. This is another big part of what makes treatment a safe place to be. Some withdrawal symptoms are potentially dangerous and can lead to seizures or even death, so being in a detox unit is really the best place you can be if you’re quitting drugs and alcohol. In most treatment centers, the only thing you have to do while you’re in detox is sleep, and the staff will do what they can to keep you as comfortable as possible. This will sometimes include certain medications, the majority of which will not be addictive or habit/forming pills. Under rare circumstances, a stronger medication might be needed if someone has become seriously unstable from withdrawal, but most patients will not experience this. Detox usually lasts about 3 to 5 days, depending on the drug or drugs that a person is coming off of.

Residential Treatment

Most drug rehabs have a residential unit that normally houses patients for short term stays. These might range anywhere from a few days to possibly 28 days. This is where the real recovery program takes place.

There are different philosophies at different rehabs, but a large percentage of all rehabs are 12-step based. This means that the foundation of their program is based on the 12 step programs of either Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. There are alternatives out there, but they are relatively scarce compared to 12 step treatment centers. Chances are good that if you are going to detox and short term treatment, it is probably 12 step based.

If you are put off or nervous about attending meetings, I would encourage you to “feel the fear and do it anyway.” Going to meetings gets easier after you go a few times and realize that the people there genuinely just want to help each other. I was terrified of meetings (and of treatment) but I eventually got desperate enough to give it a try anyway. I’m glad I did.

Residential treatment will also consist of therapy groups and maybe some informative lectures. Most rehabs will also connect you with a therapist or counselor that can work with you on a one-on-one basis. In other words, you don’t necessarily have to spill your guts or share your whole story with everyone. It is possible to connect with an individual and get a lot of relief by simple talking to them on a one-on-one basis.

Confidentiality

Some people are afraid to go to treatment because they think everyone will know and they will somehow be ostracized for their condition. This is almost never the case and drug rehabs are bound by law to protect your identity while you are there. It is unfortunate what has happened in the media when a celebrity checks into rehab and it gets plastered all over the news. Obviously, this doesn’t happen with regular people, so don’t let the negative exposure that has happened in the media deter you from getting clean and sober.

It takes guts

It takes guts to go to treatment. There are 2 major fears that you have to overcome: One is the fear of treatment and everything that it entails: is it like jail? Is it like a hospital ward? Will they strap me down? and so on. The other major fear is that of facing life without self-medicating. The fear of being clean and sober, period. The fear of facing life and actually feeling your emotions and not medicating them.

Treatment centers are set up to try to alleviate both of these fears. They do the best they can to welcome you and make you comfortable and teach you how to enjoy a sober life. There really is no reason to be afraid of checking in some where! Just gather up enough courage to give it a try, and you will be amazed at where recovery will take you, if you let it.

Good luck to everyone out there and God bless. Try recovery today…..what have you got to lose?

How to Tell if Someone Is a Drug Addict or Alcoholic

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How can you tell when someone is a drug addict or alcoholic?

Before we can tackle this question, we need to first differentiate between drug abuse and drug dependency. Abuse is generally considered any time that someone is taking drugs in a manner other than what they were prescribed. For example, if someone is doubling or tripling the dose on their pain medication, that would be considered abuse.

Drug dependency can be built up from legal long term medical use, such as when someone becomes physically addicted to sleeping medication and cannot sleep without it. Dependency is characterized by a few factors, one of which is usually a noticeable and physical withdrawal when the person doesn’t get the drug. Examples of this would be shaking from alcohol withdrawal or agitation and crankiness during nicotine withdrawal.

addicted to drugs
Photo by lanuiop

Full blown drug or alcohol addiction is generally understood to include dependency along with a psychological craving for the substance. There is an element of anticipation and preoccupation with getting and using the drugs or alcohol. Therefore, addiction is more than just a physical dependency. Unfortunately, if you ask someone about possible drug use–even if you ask in a loving and caring manner–is likely to produce either anger or a defensive response.

Determining whether or not someone is addicted, and also what their level of dependency is can be a complicated question. In order to best answer it, we need to break it down by situation:

Situation #1:

Let’s say that you already know that someone is legally using drugs or alcohol (such as with legally prescribed medications). The question is really about their level of dependency, or whether they are really addicted at all. Here’s what you can do to learn more about their condition:

* Being Over-Medicated – Anyone who gets loopy or giddy off of, say, pain medication, is probably abusing the drug. This might not necessarily be drug addiction or dependency. Properly medicated pain should not have a person floating on a cloud. There should be at least some hint of underlying pain remaining.

* A Potential Missed Dose - Watch for someone’s reaction when and if they are going to run out of their medications, or if they have to go without alcohol in a certain situation. If there is a hint of panic, or if the person resents the situation, then those are warning signs that there is either dependency or addiction.

* Signs of Preoccupation – Anyone who is preoccupied with the idea of getting or using more drugs and alcohol is probably leaning towards addiction and dependence and less towards simple drug abuse.

addicted to drugs
Photo by extranoise

Situation #2:

You suspect that someone is using an illegal substance and is trying to keep their habit a secret. You question whether or not they are abusing drugs (perhaps experimenting), or if they possibly have physical dependence and/or a full blown addiction. In this case, you’ll want to look for all of the warning signs already listed above in order to determine their level of dependence, but also consider:

* Evasive Behavior and Isolation – People using illegal substances will probably want to avoid you or others who might confront them about it. This leads to isolation and distancing themselves. Sometimes an addict is torn with the burden of not wanting to hurt their loved ones, but not knowing how to break free from the addiction either. Their avoiding you could be a sign. Also, if they refuse to commit to an extended stay with you, that might be a sign as well (such as a family vacation or a camping trip or something similar).

* Abrupt change in friends or social behavior – This one is especially true for younger people.

Situation #3:

You have no hard evidence that someone is using whatsoever, but you are suspicious that something might be going on. In this case, watch for everything suggested up to this point, and also watch out for:

* Signs of physical dependence – These will vary according to different substances, of course, but symptoms might include: moodiness, forgetfulness, changes in sleep patterns, dilated pupils, and so on.

addicted to drugs
Photo by multi_everything

What to Avoid

Trying to approach someone that you think might be addicted is a delicate task. You might have a tendency to try to be as sneaky as you can in an effort to play detective and find out what is really going on. But try not to be manipulative and sneaky, as this will only drive someone further away from you and put more distance between the two of you.

The Role of Spirituality in Recovery

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What role does spirituality play in overcoming addiction?

spirituality
Photo by HaPe_Gera

Regardless of how you manage to find recovery, you do so via spiritual means. This doesn’t necessarily indicate a religious conversion.

A more accurate description would be a personality conversion. Some addicts might get clean through a 12 step program, others might find help in counseling, therapy, religion, or through long term programs. The means and methods by which addicts get clean and stay clean over the long run might vary, but they all share a common thread: they change an addict from the inside out.

As mentioned previously on Reading Addiction, the terms “spiritual” and “spirituality” are vague and fairly useless by themselves. They might bring to mind images of prayer, meditation, nature, and so on. But in terms of overcoming addiction, the spiritual experience is defined by a complete change in personality.

Defining the spiritual experience

A drug addict or alcoholic who is still using has a strong tendency towards self-centeredness. Their goal is to self-medicate, and they continue to justify and rationalize their need to do so. It is all about them.

In recovery, if an addict is to find long term sobriety, a shift will be made. They go from this self-centered, obsessive thinking, to genuine concern for other people. Relationships become meaningful again.

It is not so much that “spirituality plays a role in overcoming addiction.” Instead, overcoming addiction leads to a spiritual life. Another way of saying this is “bring your body and your mind will follow.” A similar saying heard in 12 step meetings is: “You can’t think your way into good living, you have to live your way into good thinking.”

So the question “What role does spirituality play in overcoming addiction?” is somewhat flawed to begin with. The real question is: how does one go from being a self-centered drug addict or alcoholic to living a spiritual life in recovery? You might also want to ask yourself:

1) Can an addict choose to have a spiritual experience?

2) How can an addict transform their life?

3) How can I live a more spiritual life?

4) How can I manage my life?

The Illusion of Safety

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margin of error
Photo by _gee_

My friend Trent over at the Simple Dollar website just reviewed a book called “Margin.” It’s a personal development book that explores typical problems that people have, how creating margin can fix those problems, and what the outcome of doing so is:

Lack of time — create time margin — enjoy more free time — less stress, etc.

Money problems — create financial margin — emergency fund — less stress, etc.

Physical health — create fitness margin — exercise, eat healthier — less health problems.

Emotional health — create margin — cultivate meaningful relationships and mend broken ones — less emotional turmoil.

This is an awesome concept, and a great way of framing things in your mind. One word that comes to mind is “cushion.” The goal is to take each area in your life and create some degree of cushion. This is obvious with money–simply build up a savings account for an emergency fund, and the money will be there when you are in a crunch, greatly reducing the stress of the situation. The idea of using margin to create time-freedom is also an interesting way to alleviate stress. Instead of a hectic, rat-race of a chaotic life, the goal is to create enough leisure time to do the things you really want to do, without having to sell your soul into slave wages for the rest of your life.

So you get the idea: margin is “cushion.” Creating margin gives you breathing room.

But now here is the million dollar question:

How does the concept of margin relate to recovery from addiction?

Here’s how: You don’t get a margin in recovery. Why not? Because you can’t “bank” your sobriety. It doesn’t accumulate in the same way as, say, your educational efforts do. Someone with 20 years of education has accumulated a certain amount of knowledge, and taking a few years break will allow that person to retain almost all of that knowledge.

Recovery is different. Someone with 20 years of solid sobriety is 5 seconds away from picking up a drink. Relapse can potentially happen at any moment. And if it does, it absolutely destroys 20 years of sobriety in an instant. In fact, alcoholism still seems to progress even during long periods of abstinence. People who relapse  repeatedly say that they actually “picked up right where they left off,” and then got a little bit worse.

Margin in recovery: merely an illusion

Most of us are familiar with the concept of margin, even if we don’t think about it much. For example, we all know that we have financial margin if we’ve saved up a lot of money in our savings account. But in recovery, we only have the illusion of margin. There is no margin because recovery is an on-going, creative process. We have to keep creating a positive life for ourselves as we continue on in our recovery. Continuous effort. That is the only defense against relapse–constant progress and vigilance.

Your 20 years of sobriety doesn’t buy you any extra margin….you still have to make it through today–all day!–without taking a single drink.

So remember: in recovery, you don’t get a margin. You have to keep striving each and every day.

Ask yourself: Am I still pushing myself in recovery, or have I become complacent? There is no margin.

Common Stumbling Blocks in Recovery that can lead you to Relapse

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Beating Addiction – How to overcome common stumbling blocks in recovery

stumbling blocks in recovery
Photo by Bibi

This the fourth part in a series about beating addiction. The first 3 parts were:

1. The secret of overcoming addiction and alcoholism.

2. Transforming your life with a spiritual experience.

3. Staying Plugged in to Recovery

In this post, I’ll be outlining some of the major stumbling blocks that people experience in trying to beat addiction, and how you can overcome them.

Common Block # 1: Denial

Denial operates on 2 levels: First, denial keeps us from even getting our foot in the door when it comes to recovery. This refers to the addict or alcoholic who continues to use and refuses to admit that they have a problem. But the other, more insidious form of denial can attack us at any time, even after we’ve been clean and sober for years. Even in recovery, we can still get stuck in denial regarding different areas of our lives. An example of this is when our peers see us doing something that they see as destructive or unhealthy, but we refuse to look at our behavior. This can be particularly tricky because this form of denial almost always involves relationships.

Solution: Stay open to helpful “criticism” from your peers in recovery. If one person tells you that you’re out of line, that’s one thing….but if a couple of people start telling you you’re out of line, then it’s time to stop and take a look at yourself. Stay open to this type of feedback. We might be defensive at first, but if you stop later and think about people’s criticism of you, then you can effectively grow in leaps and bounds by overcoming various levels of denial. Be willing to examine your own faults.

Common Block # 2: Underestimating the investment necessary to recover

Newcomers who have never tried to recover before almost always underestimate their addiction. This is huge. Beating addiction takes a tremendous commitment, and a seriously concentrated effort. I went to 3 treatment centers, and finally lived in long term treatment for almost 2 full years, before I finally “got it.”

Solution: Our life experience has conditioned us this way: we can achieve modest success in most of our ventures while only applying a modest effort. But this is not true in recovery. It takes a full commitment to a recovery program in order to achieve long term sobriety.

stumbling blocks in recovery
Photo by joemiranda

Common Block # 3: Resentments

Resentments have been dubbed the number one offender when it comes to relapse, via the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous–and for good reason. Letting anger stew and fester within your soul is a sure way to screw up your recovery. Resentments consume so much mental energy that you have nothing left with which to feel positive.

Solution: Practice forgiveness. If you’re angry at someone, try praying–for their well being. Bless them with all your heart. Also, practice gratitude, and integrate it into your daily life. Let anger and resentment slip away. Take joy in your own life, and stop living through the hatred of others. Let go.

Common Block # 4: Self pity

Self pity is one of my favorite character defects–I used to use it all the time. While it might feel comfortable to throw yourself a pity-party and play the victim role for awhile, it is extremely self-destructive. Why? Because self pity is dis-empowering, addictive, and cyclical. You feel sorry for yourself, then you do nothing to take positive action in your life, and then the cycle starts over again. Very unhealthy for recovering addicts or alcoholics.

Solution: Gratitude is the direct cure–it obliterates self pity and starts you on the path of positive thinking and action. If you are prone to self-pity, then you need to practice gratitude, every day, in order to recover. Make it a part of your life.

Common Block # 5: Laziness (lack of footwork)

This is the reason that many people can attend AA meetings every single day and still manage to relapse. It’s not just your support system–it’s how you change your life….from the inside out. Go back to block number 2 if you are struggling with this: it takes a mountain of effort to overcome a serious addiction. Period. You can’t just “think” your way sober, or read a bunch of literature and suddenly be “cured.”

Solution: Put in genuine effort and attack recovery like you life depends on it (it does). Use the principle of overwhelming force. Motivate yourself to take positive action.

Overcoming these blocks is important to a successful recovery. When I first got clean and sober, all I could do was focus on not picking up a drink or a drug. As I gained strength in my recovery, I started to set other goals that were not directly related to beating addiction. But it turns out that a lot of those accomplishments have played a huge role in my recovery. So how can we know what to focus on in recovery? How can we make the best choices that help us in our recovery? Check back next week for an article about how to prioritize your life in order to have a successful recovery.

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Staying Plugged in to Recovery

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How can we stay plugged in to our recovery and ultimately overcome addiction?

Plugged in
Photo by j / f / photos

This the third part in a series about beating addiction. The first 2 parts were:

1. The secret of overcoming addiction and alcoholism.

2. Transforming your life with a spiritual experience.

In this post, I’ll be outlining how to stay plugged in to recovery.

Why is important to stay “plugged in” to recovery? Because we
actually forget that we are addicts and alcoholics.

Now at first this statement seems ridiculous to most people. How can
we forget such a fundamental truth that we have come to know about
ourselves? Many of us immerse ourselves in recovery, go to meetings, participate in
sponsorship, and read recovery literature, so
how in the world could we actually forget that we are addicted?

This is part of the cunning nature of the disease. Obviously, we
don’t completely forget about our addiction–not for any length of
time anyway. But what happens is that we might see an advertisement
for beer, or see our old crack dealer walking down the street, and we
have to catch ourselves. For just a split second we almost react,
forgetting about how we are now in recovery.

Now don’t get me wrong–we catch ourselves very quickly in these
situations. Usually within a mere second or two. But the damage is
done, in that a thousand little triggers can start to wear down on us
after a while. We might drive past the old bar that we use to drink
at and think for a split second, “gee, a beer would be nice…” and
then we catch ourselves. Does experiencing this trigger make us go
drink? Of course not. But it might play in our minds a bit. Then
the next day something else will hit us in much the same way,
triggering the old feelings. If we aren’t progressing in our recovery
in between these intermittent triggers, they will eventually add up
and overwhelm us.

This is counterintuitive, because any one of us can make it through
a single trigger or urge to use drugs and alcohol. We know we can because we
have done it before. It’s not that hard. What makes this so
tricky is that the triggers add up. Each little trigger accumulates,
until we become miserable enough to take a serious look at
self-medicating again. Then we are in trouble.

Staying plugged in to recovery

As we maintain sobriety, triggers and urges will inevitably arise. In
order to deal with them, we need to maintain a certain level of active
progress in our recovery; in our spiritual growth. Again, this is
counterintuitive. We believe that once we learn how to deal with
triggers, we will remember for the rest of our lives. Recovery
doesn’t work that way–it doesn’t matter how smart you are or how good your
memory is. We still forget that we are addicts, if even for a split
second! And that is enough to start piling up a mountain of misery if
we are not actively pursuing spiritual growth. The key is that we
need to stay active in this pursuit. A boring, passive routine will
cause us to stagnate.

Pursuing spiritual growth

The big book of Alcoholics Anonymous states that our continued sobriety
is based on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. How does this
work? Well, let’s say for example that a recovering addict wakes up
every day in their recovery and does the following things:

1) Prays to a higher power

2) Meditates

3) Reads a daily reading, such as from the “24 Hour a Day” book or
NA’s “Just for Today”

4) Goes to a meeting and shares their experience openly

5) Works directly with other alcoholics and helps them to recover

6) Tries to genuinely draw closer to a higher power and to do his
will in their life

Any recovering addict or alcoholic who is doing those things every day
has a very good chance of maintaining sobriety. The critical thing
here is that this person is practically immune to the occasional
trigger or urge to use drugs or alcohol. Their daily routine is not
stagnant and passive, but instead it is filled with opportunity for
spiritual growth. Their life in recovery is dynamic. They are
interacting with others in recovery every day, and learning and
growing with them. They are actively pursuing a meaningful
relationship with a higher power.

Now, do you have to do all of those things, every day, in order to
recover? Not necessarily. But it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try some
or all of those things in order to get a baseline for your own
spiritual growth and development. Each thing on that list is a tool
that will directly help you to stay plugged in to your recovery and
ultimately help you to overcome addiction.

Make sure to check back next week, for the fourth part of this series in beating addiction: “Major stumbling blocks in recovery and how to overcome them.” Make sure you subscribe via RSS or sign up to receive posts through email if you don

Transform Your Life with A Spiritual Experience

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transorm spiritually
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This is the second part in a series. If you read the first part, “The Secret of Overcoming Addiction and Alcoholism,” then you know that the real secret to long term sobriety is through a spiritual experience.

It’s easy to talk about spiritual matters, because the term is so broadly defined. In order to make this discussion useful, however, we need to get more specific.

The term “spiritual” becomes useful when we break it down into specific actions and behaviors. The spiritual experience is characterized by 2 things:

1) A complete change in personality, and

2) A connection with a higher power.

A complete change in personality

The typical drug addict or alcoholic is self seeking and self centered when it comes to medicating themselves with drugs and alcohol. Although they might genuinely care for other people, their addiction causes their personality to shift, and their chemical use becomes their main priority in life. This leads to extreme self-centeredness.

The complete change in personality that results from a spiritual experience leads us away from this self-centeredness towards a genuine interest in other recovering addicts. Medicating ourselves becomes less and less important each day, and the relationships in our lives become more important.

This change in personality doesn’t happen overnight. You have to start living recovery. To many people, that means involvement in a twelve step program and the association with the fellowship. This is an excellent route to go, because it puts you in direct connect with other recovering addicts and alcoholics. Relating your experiences with these people is a huge key. So is working with them and helping them when you can.

A big part of the personality shift is in the idea of giving back; of helping others. This is a critical component. Without it, you probably won’t achieve a lasting and quality sobriety. Twelve step programs are convenient because they afford you such a great opportunity to give back and to help others, though a spiritual experience can certainly occur without them.

Forming a connection with a higher power

Most people walking into recovery don’t have a strong connection with a higher power. I know that I personally did not, and so I started seeking it immediately.

1) Exploring Different Belief Systems

I immediately started what I viewed as a “spiritual journey.” At the time–for me–this consisted of reading books. I read the New Testament, and the Tao Te Ching. I also read a number of books about Zen Bhuddism.

I was seeking. This wasn’t necessarily a good thing, or a bad thing, it’s just where I was at the time. I was looking for something. I don’t necessarily think this was necessary, but I don’t regret doing it. I learned a lot of spiritual principles (but I would have been led to them anyway).

The 12 steps are a clear path to a spiritual awakening. But some might want to explore outside of AA dogma. Luckily, the fellowship generally encourages this. However, looking back, I don’t think it is necessary. Why not?

Because they are all the same path. We are all on the same journey, all headed for the same destination. Some are further along than others. But I had to seek for a year or two, to see what was out there, and draw all of the parallels. I saw enough parallels between different belief systems that I decided that they are all the same path.

Some might disagree with this. That’s alright–that person is on the path too. It’s not about being right when it comes to spiritual growth. It’s really all about the growth itself!

What’s really important is that I took a suggestion early on to start praying every day. That consistent practice has made a much bigger difference than all of my seeking and book reading that I did.

Helpful Takeaway: Make a habit of praying daily. Seek if you must, but don’t force yourself. Enjoy the journey. And pray.

2) Helping Others and the Loss of Self-Centeredness

This is a huge part of having a “spiritual awakening.” I was lucky to be introduced to AA and the twelve step fellowship, because through it, I was able to start helping others. Instead of obsessively focusing on getting my next drink or drug, I became genuinely interested in other people’s sobriety. This wasn’t something that I did intentionally. It just happened as a result of living in a long term treatment center, taking suggestions from others, and working with others in recovery.

Helpful Takeaway: Be helpful. Reach out to others in recovery. Notice when your obsession with drugs and alcohol slips away and be grateful for it.

Slowly transforming into a different person

So the spiritual experience is achieved through a connection with a higher power and a genuine interest in helping others. But this doesn’t happen overnight….recovery takes time. We can’t just decide to recover overnight and suddenly turn into this super-spiritual being. Anything that happens quickly is bound to be fleeting. It takes time to build up a solid foundation of recovery.

Recognize that recovery from addiction takes time and enjoy the journey. Stay on the path, and constantly evaluate the path. Always be growing, push yourself not to stagnate. Look back and see the tremendous progress you’ve made. Remember where you came from, and the obsession and self-centeredness that your life used to be. See how much you’ve changed and let that be a tremendous source of gratitude. Know that you are blessed as you continue to stay sober. So many others do not make it!

Some addicts and alcoholics achieve this spiritual experience, only to relapse at some point in the future.

How can we achieve long term sobriety?

Check back next week when I dissect the specific requirements needed to achieve a long lasting recovery. Make sure you subscribe via RSS or sign up for email updates if you don’t want to miss it.