Recovery is a Journey

Challenges of Recovery

Recovery is really more than making changes, it is a healing process. Some folks take longer to heal from physical wounds than others. The same is true of mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds. Patience, diligence, and new insights to old problems are assets to this healing process. The following are some challenges to the process of recovery.

• Resistance to change. I routinely hear this excuse: "Rick, you know us addicts don't like change." Oh please! Most people I know don't like change. So what if you don't like change. There are a lot of things we may not like that we do anyway to pay the bills. Maybe its not the liking of changes that's the problem anyway. Maybe we resist change because we become uncomfortable with doing things differently. Maybe we resist change because the new behavior requires that we accept some responsibility for our actions. Maybe we are just a bit lazy. At any rate, refusing to look at things differently will only lead you back to the dope, the heartache, and the shame.
• Grief is an expected response to any loss, even the loss of a destructive relationship. And again, the problem is that grief feels pretty bad. It hurts to hurt. Just like the loss of someone close to you, changing those people, places, and things creates a sense of loss, which initially leads to all kinds of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts. There are several stages of grief to go through. The grieving process alone over the loss of the relationship we have with the addiction can take a while. Without going through this valley, recovery will not be sustained.
• Accepting powerlessness over the addiction and giving up the self-centered delusion that you can control the addiction if you just had more time, more money, more health, more luck, more opportunity, more, more, more, and more, is one of the biggest challenges to recovery. For some of us, we have decided that powerlessness is the same as being stupid or weak… period. It doesn't mean that at all. It simply means that when it comes to the addiction, we are not in control, even when we convince ourselves that we are. The new life is to humbly assume the responsibility for your actions, your limitations, and your abilities. And most important is the sharing of this realization and struggle with a group of fellow searchers. Please learn and use the "Serenity Prayer." Really, this is all about learning new ways to cope with pain, all kinds of pain, from not reaching for the pill bottle to self-medicate a headache to not reaching for the bottle or the joint to soften the edges on a really rough day.

• Finding new ways to enjoy life maybe the biggest challenge for some folks. Why? Well, maybe we have forgotten how to have fun without being impaired. Maybe we have just plain forgotten some of the things we used to like to do for fun and relaxation. It takes time to feel good naturally again. The substance abuse has messed with those natural chemicals called neurotransmitters, which are responsible for just about everything we feel and experience. Simply put, our bodies quit manufacturing those neurotransmitters while we were abusing. After we stop abusing, it can take a long while for our bodies to readjust. So hang in there! We don't want euphoria any more. What we want is to experience true joy, peace, and fulfillment. We want to live from the inside out instead of from the outside in.

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. It is caused by not eating enough food, taking too much insulin, or diabetes medication, or too much exercise. It usually comes on pretty quick and can get worse if not treated. The symptoms are: shaking, fast heartbeat, sweating, anxiety, dizziness, hunger, impaired vision, weakness, fatigue, headache, and irritability. What you can do if you start to experience all or part of the above symptoms is to drink half a cup of orange juice or milk, or eat several had candies. If the symptoms don't stop, call your doctor. If the symptoms do stop, then eat a light snack (half a peanut butter sandwich or a meat sandwich and a half glass of milk) within 30 minutes of the time you started feeling better.

Hyperglycemia

Hyperglycemia is high blood sugar. It is caused by too much food, too little insulin, illness or stress. It can come on you gradually and may get worse, much worse. The symptoms are: extreme thirst, frequent urination, dry skin, hunger, blurred vision, drowsiness, and nausea. If you start experiencing these symptoms, check your blood sugar. If it is over 250 for several tests, call your doctor.

"Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good."

"Anyone can be polite to a king, it takes a civilized person to be polite to a beggar."

"Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was."

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