When Does One Reach True Addiction Recovery?
True addiction recovery is something that is endlessly misconceived by so many people. Addiction isn’t like having strep throat, where a doctor can prescribe you a couple antibiotics and assure that you’ll be cured in a few days. This is because addiction is more than just a physical disease (although it is that, as well). Addiction is something that affects us physically, mentally, and spiritually. This begs the question: what is true recovery? If you want to reach true recovery, there are a few things that you must recognize along the way…
Sobriety is a lifestyle
Sobriety isn’t simply a status that you achieve at the end of inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation. Sobriety must be a personal choice is applied to our actions every single day. Because of this, it’s important to recognize that sobriety is a lifestyle, something that goes beyond a simple preference. Embracing sobriety as a distinctive part of who you are and what makes you who you are is a mark of achieving true recovery that will be lasting.
True recovery means having accountability
When our lives are caught up in the throes of addiction, we begin to lose the accountability to ourselves and those around us that continually makes us better people. This is simply a side effect that addiction brings to our lives. In order to accomplish true recovery, one must recognize that accountability must be an exceptionally present part of their lives, once again. Being able to be accountable to ourselves and our loved ones means being able to recognize our shortcomings and seek help before falling into an abusive pattern, once again.
Surrendering yourself to a higher power
As we stated above, addiction is a disease that not only affects us physically and mentally, but also spiritually, as well. For this reason, so many successful addiction recovery programs talk about the importance of surrendering yourself to a higher power. It’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean “God,” although that is how many people have been able to surrender themselves. Instead, it means that we have to recognize that there are forces in the universe and on our planet that are far greater than us, and that struggling against that fact leads to inner turmoil, which makes our spirits innately vulnerable to the chaos that addiction brings to our lives.