Things All People in Recovery Need to Hear Now and Then
Everyone needs words of encouragement. For your loved one, or for yourself, in recovery, here are some of the most helpful sentiments you can offer.
You’re Doing a Great Job
We all need to hear we’re doing a good job of things every now and then. Addicts and alcoholics in recovery sometimes feel as though they aren’t doing much. Being in treatment for thirty days or longer might seem like vacation to some. However, participating in the emotional and spiritual demands of addiction treatment is no small feat. Each day, in spite of exhausting and debilitating physical and mental circumstances, people in treatment are showing up. They are showing up to confront their innermost selves and deal with deep issues they may not have seen in many years. Beyond the treatment experience, every single day addicts and alcoholics in treatment are defying the odds which are stacked against them: they are staying sober. Even if that’s the best thing they did on an average day, they did an amazing job.
You Are Not Weak for Being an Addict in Recovery
Reaching out for help is something we are born with. As developing infants and growing toddlers we pick up cues from adults around us and learn to express what we need. Somehow, that innate ability gets lost in adulthood and addiction. We stop asking for help and become ashamed of ever needing help, especially when we need help stopping the abusive use of substances. Addiction does not make us weak and asking for help in overcoming addiction does not make us weak. Quite the contrary, asking for help to overcome a fatal disease is one of the most courageous things we can do.
You Deserve to Get Better
When we hit our bottom of drinking and using we don’t feel we deserve much. Many experience feelings of shame, guilt, and self-loathing. After all, it is likely that we caused a bit of damage in our active addiction. Finances, relationships, responsibilities- once addiction completely takes over the brain, everything else becomes secondary. Perhaps it is part of our mind’s way to convince us to keep using; nonetheless we might avoid getting sober because we feel we don’t deserve it. Everyone deserves a chance to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life.
I’m so Glad You’re Alive
Addiction claims tens of thousands of lives each year. Though the shame and stigma of addiction is pervasive, the hope of recovery is as well. Our loved ones are making the decision to live on the other side of the statistics- the side that survives addiction. We remind them that they are here for a reason and we are so happy that they are.
Making the decision to get sober can be scary. Enlightened Solutions is here to help you make the transition to recovery. Your life’s worth living. We believe in you. Are you ready to believe in you too? We offer programs of treatment to men and women seeking recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol. For more information call 833-801-5483.
