Recovery: It's a Lifestyle not a Hobby

One of the biggest reasons, I see, for people relapsing is that they do not take the disease of addiction serious enough. Addiction is the only disease that tricks the afflicted into thinking they don’t have it. Once a person has that moment of clarity and realizes that he cannot safely take a drink or drug it is imperative that he jumps into recovery and puts as much, if not more, energy into recovering as he did into his addiction.

When I was actively drinking and using I spent most of my day obsessing over getting drunk and high. Where was I going to get what I needed? How much was I going to get? Was I going to have enough? How would I plan my day around getting what I needed? When I did obtain my alcohol/drugs I was never satisfied. I was always worried about where I would get my next drink/drug. I’d be at a bar with a drink in front of me and instead of enjoying that drink I would be worried that I wouldn’t get one in time to continue drinking once the current one was done. And so the obsession was a never-ending circle of worry. That is a lot of energy for one to expend. When I leaped into recovery I started going to a meeting every day (sometimes two) as I drank and used every day. I had to embrace recovery as a life style. I took the spiritual principles of 12 Step recovery (that I learned as I worked the Steps) and put them into practice in all aspects of my life.

The problem with many people today who are struggling to remain sober is that they are treating recovery as a hobby rather than a lifestyle. Prior to recovery my whole life was about that next drink or drug. If I am to continue to be successful with recovery I must ensure that my whole life is about staying recovered.

There’s a reason that the 12^th Step of recovery includes the line, “…practice these principles in all of our affairs.” It’s because we must integrate our new spiritual way of living into all aspects of our life. It’s easy to practice spirituality in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous for a couple hours a night but it is much harder to bring that conviction into every-day life.

I’m not saying that one has to go to a meeting every day for the rest of one’s life. In early recovery, when one is still vulnerable, I highly recommend it, but as one gets some stability in her recovery she can balance the meetings out as she would all aspects of her life (social; recovery; emotional/mental; physical; spiritual). Part of recovery is doing the 12 Steps (it’s not the meetings you make but the Steps you take) and putting those Steps into action every day.

I was never a part-time alcoholic/addict and I cannot be a part-time person of long-term recovery.

Dave the Dude