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Recovery: restoration to a former or better condition.
To replace addictive behaviour, to restore a personality
and create a new condition for living, is daunting for
many dependant on habits or patterns of thought –
and a seemingly impossible dream for those addicted to
a substance!
Remember, this transformation of Self is a journey, not
a destination. We are never recovered, but better than
ever imaginable whilst using. Negative triggers and temptations
will never disappear. Life will never be stress free.
Neither will excitement, elation, celebration nor other
capricious everyday occurrences which ignite a using thought
cease.
However, that abiding state of agitation will subside
if we allow ourselves to be still long enough to look
for the psychological, and more importantly, spiritual
dimensions of addiction.
The road along Recovery does not have to be a lonely uphill
struggle, filled with fear or constant battle with inner
turmoil. There can be a time of Peace Within. A conclusion
of scattered thoughts, an end to a ‘helicopter-head’,
relief from constant craving.
‘Re-covering’
our sanity is a continual ‘dis-covery’ of
our true self. Rather than losing something by giving
up we regain personal power. When we give in and accept
repeated attempts of ‘only this once’ yet
one more time simply does not work, we gain Freedom.
Freeing ourselves by stepping out of the addictive cycle
is just the beginning. For many, the hardest part of recovery
is not only staying free but enjoying the freedom.
This takes permanent personal awareness; being mindful
not only of ourselves, but of everyone and everything
around us.
What most traditional programmes of therapy lack is the
Inspiration, positive process, and holistic help to give
hope of Life changing ongoing Recovery.
The Lodge offers an explanation, an understanding a self-realisation
of what’s really behind the desire to use. Something
so intrinsic to humankind though often buried beneath
layers of materialism, cynicism, fear and doubt, lies
dormant within us; like a firefly trapped in a dark cave
going round in circles striving towards its own light.
Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
found illumination, as countless others have. By embracing
the 12 steps teachings we come to see ourselves and others
in a different light.
We learn to focus out of the dark. We consider the unseen.
Recovery demands active application of basic principles.
Like many other examples, from the Ten Commandments to
the Magna Carta, any Code of Ethics to live a wholesome
life, gives us an opportunity to use our intelligence
and uphold ourselves with dignity.
But using our intellect is only a start in truly ‘working
the steps’ or ‘walking the walk’.
Spiritual Intelligence has to be felt, not just perceived.
To be spiritually aware is the ultimate tool in Recovery.
Life: the state or quality that distinguishes living beings
from dead ones.
Many of those in active addiction find life a living hell.
In dependency’s worst bottomless pit of despair,
death may appear an acceptable alternative. There is no
quality of life in addiction, we merely exist. Day after
day our lives are dictated by the desire to use, planning
our next fix with all the time-consuming paraphernalia
that goes along with it. At most rehabilitation centres,
great emphasis is placed on counting the financial cost
of addiction.
More importantly count the cost of TIME: we literally
lose years, if we add up time spent sourcing, using, and
getting over the last session! And that’s without
feeling half-dead the rest of the time!
Once in the spiral of internal desperation, finding a
reason to live without using can be inconceivable.
Why? Because without knowing, we are Spiritually dead
already. That is why we subject ourselves to self-destruction
in the first place! Searching for a ‘fix’
to make us feel good about living and life.
Most people place Peace Within top of their wish-list.
Material possessions and outward trappings do not give
us this in the real sense. The ‘fix’ always
wears off. Bigger, better, more - all wear thin. So how
do we fill the empty void?
The gap left in recovery can be huge. Our ‘habits’
consume our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being,
sometimes for near-on our entire adult life.
What do we replace all that time, energy, thought, passion
with?
There is no solace in sobriety if you feel empty inside,
with no joy in your own existence. Living life is more
than just being. We need to discover some meaning, go
back to our roots.
From when we are born we gradually lose some of our unconscious
‘perception’ qualities. We become, in varying
degrees pre- occupied with materialism, primarily concerned
with our own thoughts; and what we think determines who
we are. No-one matures with an aspiration to become an
addict! Experiences, a pre-disposition, habits, loss of
direction; all contribute to our final demise.
But, we were not meant to exist in this half-dead state.
We are not inherently programmed to self destruct, although
our families may question that fact! Just as beauty, and
goodness, lie everywhere and in everything of Creation,
inside, deep within, is our Spirit and Soul, longing to
be nurtured and set free.
Abstinence gives us that freedom, allowing us to discover
who we are meant to be. Not an addict; fully participating
in life. In a state of being, truly alive; to use all
five senses and types of intelligence with truth, compassion,
understanding, and aware of our spiritual needs; knowledge
we are all meant to be here, a part of the Universe-
We are no less than the moon and the stars… |
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