In the beginning of sobriety, it can feel like recovery is the 100% focus. Everything in your life is about your sobriety, your abstinence, and your commitment to not relapsing on drugs and alcohol. For those early stages, this kind of dedication and narrow focus is completely necessary. The last drink or drug is not too far behind you and your brain is still chemically keen on the idea of using again. You haven’t had quite enough time to process what lead you to addiction, rewire your brain, and reprogram your patterns of behaviors associated with your addiction. Additionally, you haven’t yet healed your body to be feeling good in a way which doesn’t give it any room to crave how it used to feel with drugs and alcohol in the system.
There is such a thing as recovery burnout- when talking about sobriety and recovery night and day becomes a frustrating task. Usually, the recovery burnout happens around the time that significant changes are taking place in your life. You’re ready to move on to bigger things in your life where recovery isn’t the number one focus but an integrated part of your everyday existence.
Eventually, recovery becomes like every other part of your schedule. Staying sober is no longer a task to be reckoned with, having relapse looming on the possible horizon like a deadly storm awaiting landfall. Instead, abstinence becomes like waking up, going to sleep, eating food, and drinking water. You’re sober and it’s just that simple. Like taking care of your health, maintaining your wellness, and working on your physical strength, you incorporate certain activities and routines to keep your sobriety fresh, lively, and active. At once, recovery is just like everything else, but it is also the overarching motivation to everything else in our lives. Simply put, if we weren’t sober, we may not be alive. Overdose, accident, and other causes of death are always a risk when we are using, no matter how much we use of what drug in what way at what time.
As back to school time approaches and a focus on organization, planning, scheduling, and balancing life grows, remember that recovery becomes your way of life because it is the only way your life is able to be lived. Incorporate recovery into your daily life by putting your sobriety first, and everything else will always fall into place.
Transform your life, inside and out as you find freedom from addiction. At Tree House Recovery in Orange County, California, we’re helping men create the sustainable changes necessary to build a sustainable recovery. Call us today for information: (855) 202-2138
