Plain and simple, drug and alcohol addiction is painful. Not only does the physical aspect make a person experience withdrawal and self-infliction, but mental and spiritual torture can become extremely difficult to manage. Someone who battles addiction will beat themselves up to the point of using and drinking until their bodies can no longer handle it. Their brain becomes mush while their moralistic values become completely thrown out. With nothing left but to make sure they are feeding their addiction, this life can feel unfathomable.
If this sounds like what you are going through, you may be completely in fear of how you will get off the hamster wheel of your own addiction. You may be sick and tired of being sick tired although you are unsure of how to stop the madness. The good news is that there is help for you and you will never have to feel this way again if you implement these suggestions to get sober.
You Need to Surrender
The first thing you need to really do is to admit that you have a problem with drugs or alcohol by surrendering. You will never stay sober if you are in denial or have reservations that you can drink or use again. Waving a white flag in the air signifies that you are deciding to yield to your addictive substances to make life easier and more fulfilling. Surrendering only means that you are ready for some help so you can kick your habit with others who relate and learn how to stay sober together.
You Need to Take Action
Nothing ever comes to complete fruition without some work behind it. This goes for sobriety as well. Addiction takes over and you feel as though you have no choice but to drink and use because of the relentless obsession of the mind. In order to stop the obsession that feeds into the allergy of the body, you will inevitably need some armor for cessation. Once you have one drink or one drug whatsoever, you cannot stop, and this is why action is so important. Start attending meetings instead of going to the liquor store or to the drug dealer. Call someone in recovery when you are feeling weak and cannot cope, they can change your perspective of what could happen next if you give them a chance. Help someone else in need to stop thinking about your cravings. Where there is a will, there is a way, and you must find that way into your recovery.
You Need to Be Grateful
Ever heard the phrase, “Grateful people are happy people”? Take a look around. People who tend to be happy take time to notice and see the silver linings in their life. Obviously, this will take some time in your situation because you just had drugs and alcohol taken away from you. Although you may have had a love/hate relationship with drugs and alcohol, they still were the core of your daily living. For you to see past the separation of what you considered your “best friend,” being grateful can help you to understand the disengagement and commence into your recovery. Try making a daily gratitude list. Say “thanks” to your Higher Power when something positive happens, no matter how small you think it is. Be thankful for all you have, even if you only have the clothes on your back. Appreciating your belongings will help you to become grateful for everything else you will acquire. The gifts of sobriety will be more than you could have imagined. All you need to do to receive them is to stay on the path and be grateful for your recovery.
You Need to Be Humble
One of the biggest character defects that keeps someone from staying sober is entitlement. Thinking that you are deserved something now that you are sober will not be beneficial for your recovery. The opposite needs to happen to where you can humble yourself to realize that you do not know that much about staying sober or you would have already been successful. Listening to others, asking for help, and doing what they do can be the saving grace you need to strip you down completely vulnerable in your recovery.
You Need to Be Honest
If you are not willing to let go of all of your secrets, you will most likely drink or use again. Taking the time to get all the skeletons out of your closet will make you less susceptible to a relapse. Getting rigorously honest with a sponsor is imperative for long-term sobriety. Finding a sponsor you can trust can give you another outlet for relief when it comes to sharing your feelings, trauma, and your step work. All of which are crucial to finding the balance in your one day at a time recovery.
Offering a full range of recovery and mental health services, Detox Center of Colorado offers “Expanded Recovery” to enrich our clients’ lives in mind, body, and spirit. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Detox Center of Colorado fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call us today for more information: 303-536-5463
