Recovery from addiction is not easy. You have to give up your old “coping skill” which while it may have worked in the short-term, it was very, very negative in the long term. It was comfortable, you knew how to use it and you got good at it! To recover, we must work hard not only to stop using that skill, but to replace it with skills that are not negative in the long run! The replacement is very important. What will you change about your behaviors to stop being addicted to the wrong thing?
My lead in to the article
The 12 steps from AA and other 12-Step Groups are a great guideline to recovery. The best part about those groups is that you can have a mentor to guide and support you. You can use their strength when you don’t have any. They have been through the same struggle, and are slightly ahead of you. They still struggle and have had successful experiences and failures. They are better than many professional counselors who never had the same struggle!
See here how those are important tools to use to recover, or to travel your journey with greater success. They do not directly address some internal changes that need to be made behind-the-scenes, within you the addicted one needs to make.
Realize that God designed us to be dependent on God! There is no shame in being “dependent”, we have no choice! I have learned that if I try to replace dependency on God with addiction-to-something-else, I will never become a better person. That replacement makes leads to being a drain on those we love, and I am tired of draining those closest to me. I don’t like being a drain.
Read on to learn about these three keys that either you the addict, or the addict in your life need to do to move forward. This is from thet blogpost at https://beautybeyondbones.com/2021/06/21/three-truths-of-recovery/ Go there to read the full article!
First Key
1.) Recovery must become your most prized possession: to be protected and fought for at all costs. It’s gotta be priority number one: behind God, of course. (But as you’ll see in #3, they are really one and the same.) But the fact of the matter is that without your recovery absolutely bulletproof, watertight, rock-solid, nothing else in your life can work. Your recovery has got to be solid for anything and everything in your life to function. So protect it at all costs. “Just do the next right thing.” Don’t flirt with anything that might even make you waiver in the slightest. Because relapse is the slipperiest of slippery slopes. You do what you’ve gotta do — even if that means eliminating toxic influences or people from your life. This leads me to…
Second Key
2.) Create an environment to thrive. And yes, relationships are absolutely part of this equation. Surround yourself with people who want to see your recovery thrive as much as you do. Purge the toxicity! Throw away the diet books, the “measuring stick” jeans or the clothes you wore when you were sick. Eliminate shows or media that make you have bad thoughts about yourself or your body. Follow through with your care team. Make time every single day for Jesus and prioritize taking care of yourself: mind, body, spirit. And socially take care of yourself too! Call people back, engage with your friends and loved ones. Recovery is truly a second chance at life, and it’s up to you to create a life for your to thrive!
Third Key
3.) Jesus is the source of true recovery. This is last because it is the most important. Without Christ — His life-changing love that embraces the broken, imperfect me; His calling for my life; His incredible forgiveness; and His promise to make us a new creation in Him: the old has gone, the new has come — without His strength every single day, recovery would not be possible.
Because the truth of the matter is that every self-affirmation, every mindfulness mantra, every body-positive mumbo jumbo that people try to use as an anchor or a foundation of their recovery journey — it proves to be hollow and empty at even the slightest rumble of thunder. Because believe me, the storms will come, no matter how strong your recovery may be. The storms will come, and unless you are rooted in the firm, steadfast foundation of Christ, you’ll find yourself flailing and floundering.
“I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:10). Jesus is your biggest recovery advocate. And in fact, during those moments I have blacked out in my memory of the past, it was during those difficult times when He was carrying me. He was getting me through: my Savior, my Help, my Advocate, my Deliverer.
It was when I finally allowed His love into my heart that everything changed. I could not do this without Him. I did not do this without Him.
Again, this is from https://beautybeyondbones.com/2021/06/21/three-truths-of-recovery/ Go there to read the full article!
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” Psalm 23
Please comment and/or respond to what you heard inside of you as you read this! Let’s share!
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