To recover something means to regain something that has been lost, stolen, or destroyed – lost, stolen, or destroyed – which is our connection to ourselves.
Some of us have endured life experiences, painful challenges, and traumatic situations, and as a result, it snaps our connection to ourselves. It is a survival mechanism to disconnect from yourself to be able to survive. Drugs and Alcohol, mental illness, grief and loss can do the same thing too. Recovery is not just about drugs and alcohol. It is about rediscovering how to regain something that’s been lost, stolen or destroyed, which is your connection to yourself.
R: Remember why you started
People might be in recovery because of an addiction problem, or because they experienced trauma in life, or because they struggled with untreated mental illness. Some people are going through the recovery process because of their loved ones, partners, children, or grandkids. They all have a reason that’s compelling enough that when the emotions of life kick in, they still stay on the recovery path.
E: Early Expectations
Many family members have a skewed expectation of recovery that when their loved one goes into recovery, then everything is going to be okay. The reality is that it is only the first step, and the only thing that gets better in the early stages when one stops the use of drugs and alcohol is that the problems related to drugs and alcohol all go away. Everything else, the lack of communication, the lack of boundaries, lack of trust, the trauma, grief and loss, the pain of life, the tormented relationships, everything else that was already there is still there like that. Recovery and treatment doesn’t fix all that in the 30-60-90 days. So it gets a little bit uglier before it gets better.
C: Care for your Recovery
As a child or a young adult, if they had been put in negative situations that they could not control, many people get disconnected from themselves. However, as adults, it is necessary that they take back control of their own lives. If they don’t care for their own recovery, no one else will. Whether it was done to someone or they did it to themselves, the time is now to care for their recovery and to regain it.
O: be Open-minded
Open-mindedness is the key to being able to regain that which is lost. Sometimes we might need to hear things which we are not hearing. Sometimes we might need to see things which we are not seeing. Sometimes we might need to feel things that we are not feeling. And the only way to hear, see, feel things is by opening our mind to seeing the possibilities that exist. A lot of people have a fear of an open mind – it’s safer to keep their mind closed and to live within their limitations. Self-imposed limitations of self and who and what they think they are. Sometimes it is the pain that prompts us to open our mind, because people start to change when the pain of staying the same becomes too great.
V: VIP
You are the most important person in your recovery. Your happiness must be contingent on your own happiness, your own mental health and well-being; not someone else’s. VIP means that you are the most important person in your recovery, and the more you invest in yourself the more you’re actually going to be able to be there for your loved one if and when they need it.
E: Effort
In the beginning stages of recovery, everything takes a significant amount of effort. Doing the inner work can be tedious, deep, and often uncomfortable and overwhelming. Looking at things that you have avoided for a long time, going to places that are brand new, experiencing emotions for the first time, all of these take effort. It’s not easy changing your lifestyle, it’s not easy changing the way you live, it’s not easy changing how you engage and interact with the environment.
R: Rewrite your story
You are not who your past tells you that you are. You are not your addiction. You are not your loved ones’ addiction. You are not your mental illness. You are not your loved one’s mental illness. You are not your trauma or the trauma of others. You are not grief and loss. You are anything and everything that is possible to become the moment that you choose to rewrite your story. Everything in life is nothing but chapters of a book. We are anything and everything we choose to become. And the only way you can rewrite your story is when you regain connection to yourself.
Take the First Step to Success in Recovery
It is only when you are connected to yourself that you are able to do the things you want to do, you able to be the person you want to be, are you able to accomplish the things you want to accomplish, and not feel like you’re always operating from a void, a hole, inadequacy, fear to gain abundance, and not live in scarcity.
Are you in recovery but not making progress? Recovery is not only possible but attainable, and it all begins with reaching out for assistance. Contact Buckeye Recovery Network today and initiate your journey to recovery and improved mental health.
