A Thief Named Addiction

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

Addiction is a sickness. It’s a disease that eats away at the identity, integrity and the very soul of addicts. Whether the addiction is to alcohol, narcotics, or other drugs, it corrodes a person’s inner compass. It steals everything it can from those suffering from addiction.

Living life in recovery, where bouncing back from addiction must start with a sincere willingness to heal, isn’t easy. Building a strong support system of family and friends can help the recovery process, however regaining your identity involves your individual willingness to heal.

The Will to Heal.
Having the will or the drive to heal might sound easy to achieve, but it’s truly not.
Unhealthy patterns brought on by addiction robs us of our integrity, dependability, our jobs, our spouses, and our friends. But sometimes we are not willing to give up are bad habits in order to get better. Even when we really want to get better.

Tips for Cultivating Willingness to Heal
Mindset plays a key role in Recovery. At the moment, you might not be completely willing to give up your addiction or the different character flaws associated with it, but turning to religion or your spirituality can help you let it go. Letting go of anything that is preventing you from experiencing happiness, peace and freedom will bring you a step closer to where you want to be.

Enrich your life with positivity. Change the way you think to change what you desire. Dropping negative habits can transform into replacing them with positive habits. Pick up hobbies and habits that add to your physical and spiritual being. Whether it be book club, painting, playing sports, or even volunteering in the community.

One day at a time. This saying may getting repetitive, but it fits life in recovery too well not to be. Sobriety is a lifelong process, but can seem overwhelming especially to those new to it. So, repeating the process day by day is easier to handle than looking down a never ending path.

Reconnect with your integrity. As stated by the Oxford Dictionary, integrity falls under two senses:

• The quality of being honest; Having strong moral principles
• The state of being whole and undivided.

Integrity is something that majority of us want, in both ourselves and in our leaders. Integrity doesn’t necessarily equate to moral flawlessness. After all, we are human and we make mistakes. But owning up to our mistakes can keep our integrity intact.

Tips for Building Integrity

1. Write it out. Try journaling to write out when you’re being totally honest, as well as when you’ve made mistakes.
2.  Get to know at least ONE person in your social circle whom embodies integrity. This person could be a spiritual mentor or sponsor. Whoever you chose should be a person who has undoubtedly earned the right to listen to your story.
3. Read books about integrity.

Addiction may be a thief, but you are capable of doing something about it. Take your life back. It’s up to you to be willing to get help and make the appropriate changes to find yourself again.