Whether you’re home because of COVID, work restrictions, furloughs, or layoffs, don’t let your recovery suffer.
Seek out an online meeting.
Connect with recovery-oriented people on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media
Write a guest post for From Addict 2 Advocate
Cherish loved ones
Facetime your recovery friends
Read meditation books
Read recovery literature
Most of us do not talk about the voices in our heads, yet we all have them. Sometimes they are the everyday thoughts that we have turned into the sounds, which sound like the person who initially told them, as in the critical or negative voice.
In my head, I have a Mouse voice that squeaks with fear each time I undertake a new beginning, usually followed by the Big Girl voice that encourages the Mouse to take action even when Mouse is afraid.
There is also what I call my Librarian Voice, which keeps a record of outcomes.
Then there is the Guiding Voice.
It was at that point that I knew that change was a lifelong job; that it would create fears, uncover aspects of myself that generated and caused embarrassment, but that I would only benefit from my recovery if I went beyond not using to healing the underlying motives that produced negative outcomes in my life.
The more I read, the more similarities that I found between three of the world’s major religions: Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, with what I believe to be the fundamentals of recovery. All of these reinforce the essential responsibility to change the character defects within us and to stop those thoughts, actions, and behaviors that are harmful to us and to others.
While the isolation may help us avoid COVID19, it puts us at a higher risk of relapse, and with a relapse, there’s always the chance of an overdose.
“Affirmations are our mental vitamins, providing the supplementary positive thoughts we need to balance the barrage of negative events and thoughts we experience daily.”― Tia Walker, The Inspired Caregiver: Finding Joy While Caring for Those You Love
Guilt motivates some people to change; they feel bad about their behaviors and they want these feelings to stop, so they change, and make amends.
Shame, however, often paralyzes people. Their distorted opinion of themselves leads them to believe that no one could forgive them for their actions; they think they are so worthless and undeserving of absolution that they often do not try to make amends.
Our barriers are self-imposed for the most part. That’s both good and bad news. Good because it’s an attitude within us, and therefore, we can change it. However, that’s the downside, too as most of us don’t like to feel uncomfortable in our life choices
By: Deb Palmer “We design our lives through the power of choices.”― Golden Flower ____ Choosing Our Fate Runs in the Family When my children were little, I offered choices like clean your room or scrub toilets, get along or spend the day pulling weeds. “You choose,” I’d say with a smile. Choices […]
The success of your recovery depends on maintaining vigilance or awareness. You’ve worked hard to give up drugs and alcohol; that’s the getting into recovery. Unfortunately, some people get complacent or self-satisfied when they have accomplished a part of the whole. It’s rather like someone saying they want to eat some cake for dessert and then stopping with only the eggs and flour in the bowl, but saying, “Look, I’m making a cake. I think I’ll take a break.”
While we’ll get multiple reasons from people we ask, the usual excuses for returning to active addiction seems to fit into the following five excuses.
The level of stress we face is unparalleled in my lifetime, and I’m 72, so I have lived through uncertain times before. But I know that nothing has prepared me for the Corona Virus.
Recovery is more than ‘not using.’ What changes did you have to make even after your stopped using? How did you overcome your ambivalence? How can you encourage someone today?
To break down associations, identify who the person reminds you of; then make a conscious effort to not filter the message by the association or past connection.
