Many recovery programs focus on a spiritual experience as a necessary means of changing our thoughts, behaviors, and reactions in our lives. Some people experience a sudden and drastic upheaval, while for others, the spiritual experience occurs more gradually. While the experience may be powerful in momentarily changing our views, it is rarely enough unless we focus on maintaining our spiritual experience and continuing to grow and develop in our recovery. Author and motivational speaker Denis Waitley once said, “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” Our spiritual awakening in early recovery may have been profound, but in order to maintain our newfound feelings of happiness, joyousness, and freedom, we must apply the spiritual principles of recovery to every facet of our lives. By continuing to stay active and engaged in a program that promotes spiritual development in sobriety, as well as maintaining routines around our spiritual lives, we will find that we are able to live in a state of serenity, free from the temptation of drugs and alcohol. Continuous spiritual growth in recovery may seem like a daunting task. However, the concept is quite simple: we strive, to the best of our ability, to apply spiritual principles to all of our affairs. Continuing to pray and meditate, maintaining gratitude, and helping others whenever we have the opportunity allows us to continually grow. We begin the day by asking to be free of selfishness, and we end the day with an honest reflection of what we could have done better. The next day, we do our best to apply our newfound insight to the day and repeat the cycle. The Big Book of Alcoholics explains, “It is easy to let up on a spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.” By maintaining this awareness and spiritual connection, we will find that our spiritual, personal, and emotional lives become continually enhance in our sobriety.
Your story can become one of hope and redemption in sobriety. You can make the decision to seek help now and begin building a brighter future on the journey of recovery. Oceanfront Recovery, located in beautiful Laguna Beach, offers highly effective and individualized treatment paradigms in a secure and relaxed environment to guide clients through the healing process of recovery. For information about treatment options, please call today: (877) 279-1777
