As men and women suffering from the disease of addiction, we have trouble appreciating the moment. Before we found sobriety, we were consumed by thoughts of the next drink or drug and developed a preoccupation with what the future may or may not...
We can’t be happy all the time. We can, however, allow ourselves to maintain a positive outlook by making an effort to let go of negativity. It’s easy to get caught up in bad feelings, especially in early sobriety when our emotions tend to be...
One of the greatest fears for anyone in recovery is that of judgement. Many of us spent a long time wearing masks or cultivating a persona to keep others from judging us. It can be hard to shake this fear, even in sobriety. We need to fearlessly...
The Serenity Prayer— “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” -- is used to open up most 12-Step fellowship meetings. In recovery, we strive for a...
One of the greatest gifts of recovery is the ability to experience a spiritual awakening. The experience, although powerful, can easily be forgotten or diminished in our memory overtime. A spiritual awakening must be nurtured and maintained through...
Coping skills are the behavior patterns we exhibit when faced with problems. For most people suffering from the disease of addiction, their only way of coping with external stressors was by using drugs or alcohol. In sobriety, however, it is...
Euphoric recall is the tendency for a person recovery to look back at their past drug or alcohol abuse in a positive light, often reexperiencing the feelings of the past situation. During euphoric recall, a person will only remember the euphoria...
In a state of active addiction, we lost touch with who we were at the core of our being. We began identifying ourselves with the drugs we were using and put up walls to block our true nature off from the rest of the world. When we get sober,...
Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step fellowships suggest making amends to people whom we have harmed in the past. This is the 9th Step, which states: “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or...
The first thing you might want to do after treatment is to grab some fresh air and start thinking about how you’re going to get up and moving with this new life. The pesky emotions you feel may nip at the edges of your consciousness but recovery is...
