Recalculating Your Life in Recovery

There are going to be days where you need to redirect your recovery journey

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As someone who has been in recovery for nearly 30 years, I have discovered that there will be days when things do not go as planned. Perhaps your job is not going in the direction you had planned, and you did not get a promotion that you felt you deserved. The important thing is to not fall back into a life of addiction.

One of the main things an individual in recovery needs to remember is to focus on what they have accomplished. When you find yourself struggling, remember what it was like before your recovery began. It could have been when your binge drinking nearly killed you. Perhaps you woke up in a strange place. I have always taught the clients I work with that their addiction will take them farther than they want to go, make them do things they would never do, and become the person they never wanted to be.

Individuals in recovery must remember what it was like when they were at the worst point of their addiction. They need to focus on where they are currently at in their recovery process. It is better than active addiction. There will always be times when there are issues at work, in a relationship, or life in general. However, none of this was worse than being in the nightmare of just going through life in a zombie-like state of active addiction.

Another way to best deal with this is by not allowing yourself to fall into the negativity of life. You cannot go through life comparing your recovery with someone else's. If you struggle to get past the first few days and see someone who has just celebrated a year in recovery, do not be mad at where you are. Be happy for them and realize it is possible. As individuals in recovery, we are fighting the same war. We are just at different points in our battle.

Those in recovery must be willing to focus on the H.A.L.T. philosophy. Originating with the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program, H.A.L.T. is one of the AA sayings and is a useful acronym for identifying potential relapse triggers. H.A.L.T. stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. When things are bad, one of the factors is the root cause of the triggers and cravings you are feeling. You must examine yourself to see if you fall into one of these four categories. Remember, doing a H.A.L.T. check-in will not solve all your issues. However, it will allow you to deal with any urges and cravings.

Individuals who are in recovery cannot allow themselves to become overwhelmed. By this, I mean not taking on too many tasks at one time. There are numerous times when they will take on as many projects as they can handle, regardless of the circumstances. The problem with this could be something to burn them out. Individuals who are in recovery must learn to be willing to pace themselves. Just as recovery is one day at a time, you must be willing to take on your tasks one at a time and not allow yourself to overdo things.

Another way is that individuals must be willing to help others, so they/ can help themselves. If you are in recovery, you must step out of your comfort zone to assist the person new to recovery down the right path. Another way is to keep your focus on yourself. There are times when you will have to do whatever it takes to hit your reset button. On those days when you are at work, complete a wellness check to avoid falling back into old habits. Some days you must turn off the brain to fully appreciate the moment as it comes.

In 2018, I experienced one of the darkest days of my life when I lost my 15-year-old daughter to the tragedy of suicide. I could have easily given into my demons of alcohol instead of staving off all the urges and cravings. I had to make sure I reached out to someone who would hold me accountable and not leave me to my methods, which proved vital in my journey.

One of the last things I could recommend in this area is to be willing to seek out therapy to assist in helping you to avoid using when the urges and cravings are at their strongest. There will be times when you feel you need an outside source who will be an additional resource to continue to live a life in recovery.

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Your task is to make an effort to stay sober. You will constantly have to work on yourself to realize the value of recovery and, you are worth the work. You will always need to read the whole story and remember just how far down your alcoholism or drug addiction brought you. The point is to do everything in your power to prevent yourself from ever getting close enough to giving in to using it again.