On the road to long-term recovery, finding a community is essential. Most men and women who’ve had struggles with drug and alcohol and tried to get sober without assistance encounter problems. The modes of being that people utilized in active addiction – selfishness, self-centeredness, and isolation – are not the same that a person relies on for lasting recovery.
Individuals looking to make drastic changes for the better must embrace an entirely new mode of living. A paradigm shift in thinking about one’s self and others is required to make personal improvements stick. The old ways of living life will not suffice in the realm of addiction recovery.
Healing from alcohol and substance use disorder is a lengthy process. Time is a necessary ingredient; learning how to maintain a positive attitude in the face of stress doesn’t happen overnight.
Finding the courage to trust others isn’t easy; addiction makes it hard for people to look at others’ motives without suspicion. However, trust one must, if a man or woman is to make progress. The longer a person works a program, the less work it is to believe that peers have your best interest at heart when they make suggestions.
With each passing day, relative newcomers feel less and less alone. A sense of togetherness wells up inside individuals, providing them with the strength to keep moving forward.
Millions of people realize the gifts of recovery by working with others to achieve similar goals. Having a support network to rely on is the most vigorous defense against relapse. Abstaining from drugs and alcohol for a day or two is possible without help, but doing it for months or years requires outside help.
Community is Everything in Recovery
Many of those new to recovery, either in treatment or 12 Step meetings, are reticent about opening up. Finding a voice, and the courage to use it, can seem impossible to some. However, those unable to express their feelings initially learn to do so so by watching others do the same.
Hearing others share their daily struggles – such as the desire to use again – is empowering. It’s an acknowledgment that the disease is always trying to re-exert itself, and that talking about it diminishes its power. Sitting amongst like-minded individuals who all share similar challenges, collectively saying to their disease ‘not today,’ is a remarkable experience.
Recovering alcoholics and addicts draw strength from their community. Such people find solutions to everyday trials and tribulations by talking about them with a sponsor or trusted confidant. When a young man works the Steps with another man, their eyes become open to a world of possibilities.
Real friends are made through working a program of recovery. The very people who serve as a person’s guide toward a better life often become their most essential companions.
The connections made between men and women in “the rooms” are selfless, genuine, and enriching. Friendships made in sobriety feel meaningful because they are bound by honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness.
The recovery community gives people the freedom to be themselves, to no longer mask who they really are and feel accepted. Drugs and alcohol erode men and women’s authenticity; recovery builds it back up. Again, it is a process that requires more than abstinence alone. The Steps are a formula for more than sobriety; they are a recipe for being a whole person.
12 Step Recovery 84th Anniversary
In 2019, countless people around the globe owe some part of their ability to heal from addiction to a 12 Step recovery program. For those who embrace the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, you probably know that Founders Day Weekend was just celebrated across the country.
It has been 84 years since Bill Wilson had a conversation with another alcoholic, Bob Smith, about a solution. Each year, recovering alcoholics and addicts acknowledge the importance of that meeting and the program that followed.
What started as two alcoholics working together to never drink again no matter what is now a community of millions of people. Bill W. and Dr. Bob’s fortuitous friendship led to an untold number of connections of a similar nature.
Gender-Specific Addiction and Mental Health Treatment
At PACE Recovery Center, we help adult men get to the root of their behavioral and mental health issues. Men work together and form lasting bonds with each other; in doing so, they learn the importance of community.
We offer several programs to address the unique needs of each client adequately. Please contact us today to learn more about our services and to begin creating a plan for finding long-term recovery.
