Sober

There are many different things that can make recovery challenging. One of the most complicated parts of recovery for many people is pain management. Because pain is often something that leads to addiction, it can be extremely difficult to find alternatives to traditional pain treatment options that can still help you manage pain.

Addiction recovery is a life-long journey, and it is expected that an individual will be coping with its unique effects throughout their life. While one may have taken time off from work to attend a detox program or residential treatment program, they will still need to balance their life in recovery with their professional life after graduating from these programs. Learning how to balance the two is a testament to one’s growth in recovery.    However, it is also a skill that needs to be practiced. There are strategies that an individual can employ to begin balancing their newfound life in sobriety with their full-time employment.

Cravings are an unfortunate inevitability throughout the recovery process. They can be extremely intense in the early phases of recovery, such as during detox and residential care, but can persist throughout any stage of recovery. Those who have worked hard to maintain their sobriety for years can still experience cravings from time to time. Each individual needs to remain prepared to combat these intense feelings to avoid regressing to more destructive practices regardless of the length of their sobriety. Cravings can manifest in many ways. While some may stem from identifiable sources or stressors, others may be unclear in their roots and need more focus and dedication to uncover their origins.

Most of us strive to be happy throughout our lives – that’s all we want. Of course, there are many things that we might associate with happiness, including success, money, relationships, appearance, and more. You may have even spent lots of time thinking about what you can do to build your happiness in life, only to find that it’s short-lived. It’s not uncommon for people to seek out things that make them happy for a temporary amount of time, only to discover that they didn’t fill in the void that lies within their heart and soul. Although social media will tell us (or show us) that happiness means we need to be smiling all the time, it’s simply not feasible. What we can and should be doing, however, is taking control of what we feed our mind, body, and spirit each day so that we can enter into a beautiful state of flow, which is a form of happiness within itself.

When we’re in active addiction mode, perhaps we’re not sure what “fun” really means to us. Early on in our addictions, we might have used alcohol and/or drugs and other addictive behaviors as a way to lose control, have fun, self-medicate, party, and/or relax. Eventually, we realize that our addictions collapse into turmoil and hardship. “Fun” doesn’t figure too heavily into the equation. One inspiring part about recovery is that we get to redefine what it means to have fun. We get to figure out what we enjoy, what makes us feel free and lighthearted, and what makes us feel bad. Oftentimes, we’re starting from the ground up. However, we can view this process of redefining what it means to have fun as an exciting self-discovery journey. Here are a few tips for redefining fun in recovery.

We’ve all heard it – sober living can be great. For those of us who have already been down the path of addiction, most of our friends and family have said it. “You should just stop drinking so much – life is so much better,” they’ve said. Maybe you’ve scowled at these phrases before. While most of our loved ones sound cliché when saying it, there truly are some benefits to sober living. Maybe you’re just beginning your road to recovery, or perhaps you’re contemplating it. We won’t just provide you with simple reasons, though. Here are some real, honest, pure reasons from individuals who have already gone through addiction and have found sobriety through their recovery:

Summer is here and your sobriety is fresh. Worst summer ever? Definitely not! Though your first summer in recovery can be awkward at times, it will be full of amazing memories and growth as you learn just how incredible living sober can be. Summer is the perfect time to learn.