How Recovery Has Helped Me in My Journey of Acceptance

It has been nearly twelve years since I started my journey of being in recovery. I often think back of times I had negative happenings in life. In active addiction when those “not go as planned” moments happened, negative emotions like grief, anger, hopelessness, and simply choosing not to accept reality was my life at that time. In choosing not to accept reality, I chose to numb down the feelings I had and using substances got me there quicker. In using, life got more out of control and the cycle of feeling let down, becoming angry and not dealing with life occurrences led to not healing but self-sabotaging.

Recovery on the other hand led me down a path of working on myself through abstinence, accountability, therapy, and a twelve step program to learn to manage my emotions, learn life skills that allowed me to mature, and mostly not use mind or mood altering substances so I could feel, deal, and heal. 

I could write a book on all the traumatic things that occurred in my life and one could see how easy substance abuse was the option I chose not to accept those things. Most people in recovery agree that life will show its ugly side, sometimes to the point of misery, but abstinence helps us deal with life on life’s terms. When I get in my head about negative feelings and things that happen, I can use tools I have learned to be present, clear-headed, and power through what has occurred. I learned that most things in life are not as bad as I imagined and I can also be an example to my children of how to make healthy choices in life. 

I am forever grateful for my recovery. I am grateful to the God of my understanding who has plans to prosper me, to give me hope and a future. My choice today is to continue to learn skills that help me have serenity, accept the things I cannot change, and ask for wisdom to know the difference. 

… A grateful recovering dental hygienist …