Addiction Recovery: Action Steps IV

Once a recovering person has accomplished short term goals in recovery and is in the commitment stage of recovery, there’s a temptation to curtail basic actions that got the person to this stage. Surely, now, the person has learned a lesson and can go forward happily with no more worries about becoming dependent again on alcohol or other drugs. Actually, the person is only at the beginning of recovery. Recovery Management is a life long process, but it doesn’t have to be a burden. The life long process of recovery can be challenging, exhilarating and endlessly rewarding. Recovery Management is really about ongoing personal improvement and awareness.

Peace of mind, a clear conscious, a healthy body, mind and spirit and a commitment to self-honesty are barriers to relapse. The better one feels about oneself, others and the world in general, the less likely there’ll be temptation to return to alcohol or some other drug, especially if the person is aware daily that going back will generate the same consequences as before or, most likely, worse. If you’re happy and free from dependence, it’s less likely you’ll want to take a chance with drinking or using, but if you are miserable and envious of other people who’re drinking and using, and still thinking that some mood-altering substance is necessary to have a good time or deal with stress, then you’ll probably give in at a moment of weakness.

So, after the initial stage of recovery, the next action steps have to do with Recovery Management and personal growth. I’ve witnessed many people in long term recovery and there are actions they take which are basically the same among them all. Most go to a support group, they take care of their health, they work on relationships, they meditate in their own style, they work on spiritual growth, they have someone who understands addiction and recovery who they talk to on a regular basis, and they’re honest. One other action, which might be the most important, is they share their story of recovery with others who’re suffering from addiction and want to change, when the opportunity presents itself.

When someone asks me how does a person stay clean and sober for decades, I tell them my story and how I’ve witnessed thousands of others in long term recovery. I don’t prescribe my exact path, just describe the basic actions I’ve witnessed. It’s about a lifestyle change. One reason people with weight problems fail on all the fad diets is because they never commit to a lifestyle change. We are more than just our bodies, more than just our minds, more than just our emotions — it takes a holistic approach, mind, body, spirit, environment, all of it. A life of honesty, awareness and improvement can be a wonderful experience. For the addict, it’s a matter of transitioning from using energy to stay away from alcohol and other drugs, that can be exhausting and depressing, to being pulled toward something good, healthy, life-enhancing. When a person is pulled toward gradual improvement, it generates energy, it doesn’t deplete energy as when you fight to avoid alcohol or some other drug.