Balance in Addiction Recovery

Most people, especially younger people, who are in treatment contemplating what recovery and abstinence will be like foresee boredom and a constant struggle to avoid temptation. They fear the loss of friends and any kind of social life. What does a person do if they can’t go out to clubs and have fun with friends? What about when friends get together to watch the Super Bowl? What about New Year’s night? How can I not drink beer? How can a person enjoy music if they’re straight?

All these questions are frightening to someone who wants to recover but doesn’t want to live a life of mind-numbing boredom. It would be disingenuous to say that there isn’t an adjustment period in the beginning of addiction recovery in which it’s difficult to live without alcohol or some other drug of choice — however, if the person in recovery has a plan for recovery and manages the plan, they’ll know that this beginning phase will pass and they’ll find many things to do.

Usually, the person in treatment imagines how things were at some point in their life when alcohol or some other drug worked for them and they had fun. The person in early recovery is likely not taking into account how their drinking or other drug use was not fun before coming into treatment and caused many awful consequences. If they imagine these problems progressing, as they will if the person continues to drink alcohol or use other drugs, then the person can also imagine a different life in recovery.

Most people who make it to treatment have had significant problems with alcohol or other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, meth, etc. If the person was drinking or doing drugs and having a blast, they would most likely not come to treatment. The average addict wakes up feeling awful and attempts to drink enough alcohol or use enough drugs to feel normal — they are past feeling euphoria when using drugs — they are simply trying to get to normal or not suffer from doing without their drug of choice.

This is hardly a good, well-balanced life — it’s definitely not having a good time. In recovery a person can make new friends or come to an understanding with old friends who respect their recovery. People in treatment should soon realize that’s it’s a sad statement to say they don’t have what it takes naturally to have fun or do interesting things without putting some mood-altering substance in their body. They do have what it takes to have a good time, and, in reality, in recovery, they can have a truly good time, not an artificial high that doesn’t last, causes terrible consequences and eventually turns into constant pain.

Balance in addiction recovery means different things to different people, but basically a person who is managing their recovery will address all areas of their life — nutrition, intellect, emotions, relationships, exercise, occupation, etc. When this happens the person discovers their true potential. Recovery is about growth as a person and becomes a discovery process. Alcoholism and drug addiction restrict a person’s life and eventually destroy the person, while recovery expands possibilities and becomes creative. Facing life with a clear head and an untroubled heart leads to avenues the person never imagined were available. I see it all the time — a person in recovery finds a beautiful life-mate, they go to college and get a degree, they heal important relationships, or they get promotions at work, or they change their lives in some way they never knew was possible. Recovery, managed well, is about actualizing potential — it’s about growth and pursuit of happiness. If a person in recovery is bored and dissatisfied it’s likely because they aren’t managing the recovery very well. It could be they need some kind of medical attention, but it’s up to the person to find solutions and allow others to help in recovery — there’s always a better solution than returning to a life of addiction.