Fear was one of the biggest factors in our descent into addiction. We were afraid of people, relationships, and facing life without the comfort of drugs or alcohol. When we make the decision to get sober, we are also making a decision to finally face all the things that used to fill us with fear. When we embrace a program of recovery, however, our fears begin to fall from us and we are finally able to face life successfully. Fear can be divided into three basic categories: fear of not getting what I want, fear of losing something I have, and the fear of what others think of me. We came to realize that nearly every defect of character that controlled our life fits into one of these categories. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous explains that fear “somehow touches every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn’t deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling? Sometimes we think fear ought to be classed with stealing. It seems to cause more trouble.” How then, do we learn to overcome such a deeply ingrained aspect of our lives? The process of recovery requires strong introspection and self-searching to discover why it is that we allowed these fears to control us. The awareness we develop over our fears gives us a new sense of power over them. Suddenly, we find that we are in a position to face our fears and allow our actions to be dictated by a spirit of love and tolerance rather than fear. Through prayer and meditation, we attempt to proceed through each day without the constraints of fear and selfishness driving our actions. When fears crop up, as they often will, we pray about them, speak to someone immediately, make amends immediately if anyone was harmed by our fear-based actions, then we turn our attention to helping someone else. By continually approaching each day with an awareness of our fears, we are able to begin asserting control over them, and begin living a spiritual life of love and tolerance.
Fear doesn’t have to be the author of your life story. You can begin building a peaceful and serene future by choosing to seek help now for addiction and alcoholism. Oceanfront Recovery, a treatment facility in beautiful Laguna Beach believes “when you change your story, you change your life.” Oceanfront offers a variety of treatment methodologies and techniques to provide you with all the tools needed to achieve permanent sobriety. For more information about treatment options, please call today: (877) 279-1777
