Mar 04 2009
Maintaining Sobriety Over the Long Haul
If you want to maintain your sobriety in the long run here are some things you can do to insure that:
1) Work with other recovering alcoholics - this is one of the biggest things you can do to insure your sobriety. Make a habit of helping other alcoholics on a regular basis and you will stay sober. One way to do this is to get involved with sponsorship in a 12 step fellowship. Another way to do this is to regularly chair 12 step meetings. Alternatively, there are special AA meetings that are brought into places like jails, institutions, and treatment centers. These can be especially helpful because the people you will be helping out are all newcomers.
2) Seek holistic growth - this is a critical part of long term sobriety and most people completely overlook it. Certainly many in long term recovery do not even consider the idea of holistic growth and this is why so many people relapse.
What is holistic growth? It is the idea that you can grow as a person in many different areas of your life. For example, you might go back to school and get an education. Or you might start exercising on a regular basis. Or you might focus on spiritual growth in some way. If you do all of these things and more, then this is holistic growth. This is a powerful idea for maintaining long term sobriety.
3) Focus on holistic health - this is similar to the previous idea. You want to take a holistic view of your overall health in recovery. Why is this important? Because recovering alcoholics can get into trouble if they have health issues. This is a bigger trigger for relapse than many people realize. Put simply, many health issues have the potential to lead us back to the bottle in ways that we are not expecting. For example, many recovering alcoholics have relapsed after being put on addictive painkillers.
So we want to take an holistic approach to our health and try to maintain it in all areas of our lives. Emotional balance and mental health are important components to this as well.
I find the holistic approach not only helps to maintain sobriety but also increases the quality. I try to make a little bit of progress on a regular basis - currently I have been working out a gym routine.
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Recovery Rocks!
Roxie
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http://recoveryrocks.today.com/recovery-wall