Creating A Positive Life
Alcohol and drug addiction most definitely take their toll … often for many consecutive years. A large number of people who currently suffer with addictive disease developed this illness gradually. However, there are the dramatic experiences variety in which someone becomes quickly addicted to a drug like heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine after using only a few times.
What probably does not get sufficiently covered on a day to day basis are the stories of people who do go on to create a positive life for themselves following a period of recovery. Recovery is a real experience – as real as addiction. There are different paths on which people travel the recovery journey. All along this recovery path are opportunities for life and new directions. While addiction robs a person of their independence and purpose, recovery provides a new start and a priceless renewal of one’s life.
In the 1930’s, we saw the rise of effective & popular self-help meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous and then later Narcotics Anonymous. We have seen alcohol and drug treatment programs undergo years of continuing improvements as well as a variety of spiritual-based recovery programs offered to heal the heart, soul, and mind,
Creating a positive life does not happen by accident. It has been said that addiction is a cunning, powerful, and baffling disease. Addiction, as an illness with strong psychological components, feeds and grows on isolation and inaction. The disease itself leads many people to broken thinking and poor decision-making. To change one’s life and to veer onto a new, healthier path requires that an addicted person make a decision to choose help. This help comes in different forms. The common thread that runs through treatment, 12 Step recovery, and Spiritual-based programs is one of commitment and change.
Creating a positive life happens one day at a time. Sound familiar? The psychologists and psychiatrists tell us that behavior change and growth occur in increments. A little bit at a time. Like earning a degree, losing weight, or shedding an old habit. Creating a positive life means we commit to something new, adopt logical daily practices to help us get there, and change happens.
Recovery is the next chapter waiting to be discovered, waiting to be both read and written, by those in active addiction. A positive life is possible. Believe it. Change is possible. Are you ready for change yet?
As a counselor of 25 years, I have heard a number of clients say over the years “Oh, I wish I had done this sooner!” The thing that keeps people stuck where they are is fear, confusion, or lack of a belief that things can get better. Sometimes it’s just plain old procrastination. There are many reasons.
It’s easy to put off big decisions. We often tell ourselves that we will think about that later. Later never comes, and then years go by. At some point, and with a little luck, the misery of addiction compels a person to finally take action. In AA, they call this “hitting bottom”. In other words, things get so bad a person has to take some new action to change their circumstances. Sadly, some people wait around too long. They may lose their life, their freedom, their family, their sense of hope. Don’t allow this to happen to you. It’s not necessary.
If you are living with active addiction right now, please consider that flirting with disaster may actually bring … disaster. Addiction is a very dangerous road. Step onto a new path. Commit to a new path. The one where hope, safety, and a life of recovery are waiting just for you.