Sometimes people are turned off by recovery in the Twelve Step Programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous because of issues they may have with organized religion. The strength of 12 Step Programs is that they urge each individual to develop his/her own understanding of a source of spiritual strength. Perhaps the best place to start, I think, is with the willingness to be open to the support of others in recovery who have learned how to not drink by using AA principles. The strength of the group can be the foundation of spiritual growth.

Courage to Change the Things I Can

The Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. How does an individual in recovery find the courage mentioned in this prayer? As with most aspects of recovery, developing the "courage to change the things I can" is an ongoing process. The progress that you can achieve will most often come from improving and strengthening your relationship with your source of spiritual strength, your Higher Power. Ways to improve and strengthen that relationship include use of daily spiritual disciplines (morning and nightly prayer, spiritual readings and reflections), helping others, and asking for help from others, in recovery, attending 12 Step meetings and listening and sharing. Fear is normally a huge issue in early recovery. Ask in morning prayers and throughout the day for the strength to take risks and do what you are supposed to do. Over time, you will reach the point where fear, though present (fear seems to be part of being human), rarely will prevent you from doing "the next right thing."

Is there a cure for addiction?
Most persons knowledgeable about addictions would simply answer: "no." Addiction to alcohol or other drugs is not cured by time abstinent from use of the addictive substance. There is no therapy that can teach an addict or alcoholic to use without problems over any significant period of time. Because of changes in brain chemistry and other psychological habituation factors, few, if any, individuals once addicted can return to normal, non-harmful use. The answer to addiction is abstinence from the addictive substance. Long term abstinence usually can be maintained only through comprehensive treatment that addresses the physical-medical, emotional-mental, and spiritual issues that are particular to each individual.

Spirituality is an important component of the Twelve Steps of Recovery. Step 11 says: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." Here is what NA's Basic Text says about prayer and meditation: "Prayer is communicating our concerns to a Power greater than ourselves. Sometimes when we pray, a remarkable thing happens; we find the means, the ways and the energies to perform tasks far beyond our capacities. We grasp the limitless strength provided for us through our daily prayer and surrender so long as we keep faith and renew it.
For some, prayer is asking for God's help, and meditation is listening for God's answer. We learn to be careful of praying for specific things. We pray that God will show us His will and that He will help us carry that out. In some cases He makes His will so obvious to us that we have little difficulty seeing it. In others, our egos are so self-centered that we won't accept God's will for us without another struggle and surrender. If we pray for God to remove any distracting influences, the quality of our prayers usually improves and we feel the difference. Prayer takes practice and it may be well to remind ourselves that skilled people were not born with their skills. It took lots of effort on their part to develop them. Through prayer we seek conscious contact with our God. In meditation we achieve this contact and the Eleventh Step helps us to maintain it."

Just for today is a concept of great importance to anyone seeking to recover from addictive disease. I can abstain from picking up a drink or a drug today, but may find staying abstinent for the rest of the week, month, year, or a lifetime to be overwhelming.

"I can't, God can, I think I'll let him/her": This statement is a short translation of Steps 1-3 of the Twelve Steps of Recovery in AA or NA, meaning, I admit I am powerless over alcohol/drugs, I've come to believe that there is a source of spiritual strength that can restore me to sanity, and I've made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of that source of spiritual strength. It's a nice shorthand way to think about the first three Steps.

Why Complete Abstinence?

Let's begin a discussion of reasons for complete abstinence for recovering persons. If a recovering addict or alcoholic uses a substance of abuse other than his/her drug of choice, the resulting high or feeling will not be the one he/she is used to or desires (from drug of choice). That being the case, and adding to this factor impaired judgment that always occurs with drug use, there will be a high risk of relapse into use of the drug of choice.

Self Pity

"Poor me, poor me, pour me another drink": Self-centered, negative thoughts breed negative feelings which can result in picking up a drink or a drug. Allowing yourself to dwell on areas of your life that are not as you want them and feeling sorry for yourself, can cause you to feel so miserable that you may revert to old ways of dealing with pain, namely, use of alcohol or other drugs. You are in charge of your thoughts and can refuse to obsess on negatives. Go to a meeting, talk to a fellow recovering person; just do not stay fixated on negatives and the painful situation will pass.

A New Year's Resolution
Why not think about adopting the following resolution if it fits for you? I will try to be honest about how my drug or alcohol use is causing problems in important areas of my life, such as relationships, employment, my health, legally, and if my use is causing such problems, I will explore how to get some help. Check out this site for help: http://www.alcoholdrugsos.com