Feeling Hope In Sobriety And Sharing It With Other Addicts

One of the most beautiful things that most of us see when others get sober and go through the addiction recovery process is that sense of hope and excitement. For many of us to be alive and sober is not only a huge accomplishment but a miracle as well.

Getting Through Hard Times In Addiction

When we were in the middle of our disease most of us had given up hope for living, being sober, or even dreaming of a better life for ourselves. We could not be bothered with something like having hope when we were so wrapped up in the bondage of this disease.  When we get sober and seek help for our addiction, most of us are able to get through the hard times because of others sharing their experience, strength, and hope in regards to their recovery from drug or alcohol addiction.

Sharing Hope With Other Addicts

It is through this exchange that gives us the strength needed to carry on. There is nothing that compares to the moment when we get that first glimpse of hope or that initial feeling that we can do this. Sharing and giving hope to another individual is one of the many beautiful aspects of sobriety.  When we reach out to newcomers and share with them the trials and tribulations that we have gone through and overcome, we not only get to help others but we also get a lifetime of blessings as well.

Building Self-Esteem in Recovery

We gain self-esteem by doing admirable acts. When we get sober most of us are used to having little to no self esteem left. We had been defeated by the years of destruction and pain that our drinking and drug addiction had caused us and others. Most of could not imagine getting to the place where we were able to love ourselves again. Most of us were stuck in a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body and did not know how to get out until we started the addiction recovery process, got alcohol addiction help, and got sober. 

New Start in Recovery

Over time we begin to right our wrongs and clean up the wreckage of our past. We begin to get honest with ourselves and others, and we become happy and usefully whole once again. We can begin to hold our heads up and look people in the eyes. We can begin to carry ourselves with dignity and grace. Others begin to see the change in us and we become the type of people that others can depend on. If we are willing to do the work on ourselves, trust in God, clean house, and work with others, we will be able to feel good about ourselves and our actions. We are all finite fallible human beings. There will be times when we fall short. That is to be expected. All we can do is move forward and continue trying to do the best we can do.

Love as a Drug

We all want to give and receive love. As alcoholics we can be really sensitive people at times and can also have a hard time showing and receiving love in a healthy manner. There are many reasons for this such as fear of commitment, love not being modeled to us as children, or fear of losing it. Some of us even go to the opposite extreme and can become addicted to love; partially due to our desire to feel better. And as a means to distract ourselves we can begin to use people and love as a drug in order to not have to deal with ourselves or things in our lives that are not acceptable to us. 

Focus on Yourself - You're Worth It!

We may think that if we are distracted then we won’t have to look at things that might be uncomfortable for us to look at. What we fail to realize is that even if we try to focus on people, places, and/or things, then the problems that we have will still be there when those people, places, and/or  things are gone if we don’t work on them. Through going to an alcohol treatment, AA, or drug addiction treatment and going through the addiction recovery process we can begin to work on ourselves so that we can begin to feel happily and usefully whole again. If we do the work on ourselves we will no longer need to find ways to alter our reality because we will have built a life for ourselves that we don’t want to escape. We will have learned how to love ourselves and in turn learned how to love others in a healthy way.

Learning to be Okay with Being by Ourselves

Sometimes one of the best relationships we build after going to 12 step treatment, AA, or Above It All is the one we build with ourselves. When we first get sober and receive rehabilitation it is normal to need a lot of support and be surrounded by people. However, when we stay sober we get to start working on loving ourselves and being okay with not having people around us constantly. We get to spread our wings and find out what it is that we like doing. We get to find out what we are about, what we stand for, and what makes us tick. We become okay with those situations that used to make us feel awkward such as seeing a movie alone, going to a party where we don’t know that many people, and just showing up for life despite our feelings or doubts. Through continuing to work on ourselves, we learn that we can do anything as long as we are spiritually fit. What comes out of this is the opportunity to start showing up for ourselves for the first time as well as learning how to enjoy those moments where we are alone just as much as those moments when we are around people. There is a sense of self love and being competent that comes from being independent. When you get to the point where your happiness is not contingent on any particular person, place, or thing, but rather a feeling that comes from within, then you will begin to experience what true freedom actually is. This is one of the many gifts that sobriety has to offer.

Investing in a Relationship with Yourself

 Many of us when we first get sober and receive alcohol addiction detox don’t know much about our likes, dislikes, or who we truly are. Most of us were so caught up in our disease that we never really had the opportunity to grow emotionally or figure out what we were about. This can be a long process but it is well worth it. When we go to a recovery center, AA, or Above It All we have the opportunity to build a relationship with ourselves, figure out what our dreams are, and achieve them. We have the chance to learn what our likes and dislikes are, what we stand for, and how to love ourselves. We get to attempt the impossible and climb that mountain we’ve wanted to climb, jump out of planes, get that degree, or build that family we’ve always wanted. The sky is the limit when it comes to possibilities in sobriety. We get to dream big and live the life that we have always wanted to live as long as we continue to apply ourselves and work towards our ideals. Many of us have always had hopes and dreams even when we were using that we had given up on. Most of us were so stuck in our disease that our dreams never came to be, but now that we are sober, we are capable of picking up the pieces of our broken dreams and rebuilding them. We can do anything we set out to do as long as we put our sobriety first.

Dealing With Change and Loss in Sobriety

Just because we get sober and receive rehabilitation does not mean that everything is perfect. Life is still life. There are going to be ups and downs. Just like the good times pass so do the bad times. When we go to AboveItAllTreatment, AA, or alcohol centers we learn how to live life on life’s terms regardless of the situation. We get to learn how to stay sober no matter what. Alcoholics have a hard time when it comes to change or anything that brings up emotion for us. Losing a friendship, relationship, family, or job can all be things that we find unacceptable to us. These things that seem unfair are actually opportunities to grow and heal. Through the hard times we get to come out better people then we were before that experience. If we have faith that we will be okay no matter what, we will be able to hold our heads up, learn, and change. We get to strengthen our sobriety and learn how to handle situations that used to baffle us. We get the chance to learn that we don’t have to drink to start over and that feelings are not facts. Our feelings do not have to dictate our actions. We can act with dignity and grace regardless of how uncomfortable we feel. And we get to wake up and try to do a little bit better than we did the day before. All we can do is continue to try our best in any situation we encounter.