Use Pain as an Opportunity

In recovery, how you react to the emotional pain and stress of life can be the difference between growth in recovery and relapse into your addictive behavior. Try to look at pain as an opportunity for growth, an opportunity to use new tools to handle pain (such as prayer and sharing), rather than resorting to old destructive means such as drug or alcohol use. Every time you refuse to use an addictive behavior to deal with emotional pain, you will grow in strength.

Keep It Simple

In early recovery from addictive disease (actually anytime in recovery), it is important to keep it simple: don't pick up a drink or a drug, or act on any thought or craving to use, regardless of what happens today. There is no good excuse for relapsing into addictive behaviors; so, keep it simple: it doesn't matter how bad you feel, how lonely you are, how angry you are, etc.---just don't use or do your addictive behavior (gamble, exercise, visit internet porn site, eat empty calories, if any of these are a part of your addiction). If you remain abstinent and in a recovery program, you will learn how to handle all these feelings, but for now, just don't do your addictive thing.

Live One Day at a time

Persons in early recovery from addiction, or the effects of an addiction, are often in a lot of pain and under much pressure from their minds, and maybe even from persons close to them, to use old, well-known ways to handle the pain, namely, to relapse into addictive behaviors. A recovery tool that can be a lifesaver is the concept of living one day at a time. This concept sounds trite and cheesy, but applied to the reality of recovery from addiction, can be the difference between abstinence and relapse. Brand into your head as a recovering person that today is the only day that you have to stay abstinent; you can handle the pain and cravings just this one day; don't think about abstinence the rest of your life---just for today.

Daily Spiritual Disciplines

It is vital to recovery from any addiction, or from the effects of a close relationship with an addicted person, to put in place daily spiritual disciplines. I refer to setting aside time every morning to ask your source of spiritual strength, or Higher Power, to be able to stay away from the first drink, drug, bet, website, or other addictive behavior, or attempt to control another person. One assist in this daily discipline can be through reading a daily meditation or reflection geared to your particular addiction, you know, those little books with a page for each day? The books can be purchased online from organizations like Hazelden: www.hazelden.com/, or you can subscribe to my service and receive a daily reflection by e-mail from me: http://www.alcoholdrugsos.com.