Why does recovery matter? Why can we not just leave everything else out and simply let it be? Why?
The answer is simple: we are human. We have emotional bonds and mental ties to things in life. We cannot cut everything off, because then we would be cutting ourselves off from what truly matters. Family, life, health, they are all important. And to truly have them all back, recovery must happen.
Family.
They care. You care. Someone out there is thinking of you and you are thinking of someone out there. If you want your family to truly be happily together again, take the steps to recover. Making peace with your family is a part of recovery and you will need their support. It is easier to share burdens than to lift your weight alone.
Health.
Addiction takes a toll on family, life, and health. Addiction can make it hard to think clear, and to make reasonable decisions. Everything may center around just one thing, but that’s not how life is supposed to be. There is family to love, and a life to live. If you do not take the time to recover and find true health again, it will continue to be hard to fulfill family responsibilities and life goals. Without good health, there is no ‘living life to the fullest’, because there is no full you.
Life.
Recovery matters because life matters. Whether it’s you or a loved one who is struggling with addiction, make sure it is known that life matters. We are all here for something and we are not here alone. We are together. We are together to figure this life out, to make contributions only we can make, and to better the world around us. You are needed because you are you.
So find yourself again. Live your life, and be with your family. Come to a Steps Recovery Center to make it happen.
When it comes to drug addiction, stigma is everywhere. There always seems to be a mocking comment or stereotypical answer when facing others who are unaware of your situation.
“How could that happen to you? Why could you not prevent this? There is no way out for you, is there?”
These comments hurt. They shout at you. They sum you up and put you down in a matter of moments.
But that “set of negative and often unfair beliefs” about drug addiction can be minimized so you can live your life and focus on recovery as family.
Addiction is hard and stigma can make it harder. It can hurt families and individuals that are struggling with addiction. Follow these steps to help avoid that stigma.
If you are in need of a recovery center, learn more about Steps Recovery Center, a drug rehab in Utah, here.
When facing addiction, being nutritious may hardly be on the forefront of your mind. But some studies and articles show that nutrition may help to heal the body.
According to some experts, along with the many effects of addiction, comes malnutrition.
Jenny Smiechowski from thefix.com said, “The very act of ingesting drugs or alcohol wreaks havoc on the body. Alcohol, for example, impedes nutrient breakdown and assimilation resulting in nutritional deficiencies.”
Moreover, Smiechowski noted that, “In addition to the purely physiological implications of drug and alcohol abuse, there is another factor that results in a less than stellar nutritional report card for addicts: lifestyle. A person consumed by addiction is less likely to eat healthfully. Some drugs cause you to eat too much, others too little.”
As Smiechowski made evident, addiction can override health in multiple ways. But eating healthy could result in a stronger battle against drug addiction.
Medline Plus of the U.S. National Library of Medicine said, “When a person feels better, they are less likely to start using alcohol and drugs again. Because balanced nutrition helps improve mood and health, it is important to encourage a healthy diet in a person recovering from alcohol and other drug problems.”
However, it is important, as Medline Plus said, to prioritize sobriety over sticking to a diet.
What is suggested then, if one is to attempt a healthier diet as they recover?
Medline Plus suggested regular mealtimes, foods with lower fat, more protein, and perhaps vitamin and mineral supplements. On top of this, physical activity and rest are also important factors in maintaining a healthy lifestyle on the road to recovery.
Recovery and dieting are battles in of themselves, but together, they may allow for a stronger you.
If you or a family member are struggling with recovery, these healthy tips may help. Talk to your doctor to see what changes you or your loved one should make, or come to Steps where we can help with recovery.
Being an addict has its truckload of challenges, but to feel criticized in the process of recovery can seem to be the hardest part. To be looked down upon and made fun of can push one deeper into despair.
It can be friends, family, or strangers who become our criticizers. Feeling despised and belittled, though, is not how recovery should feel.
Whether one has just barely decided to become clean, or is almost through, recovery is a hard and challenging process.
Criticism can put you one step back.
But really, you should use criticism to help you move forward.
Although it is painful to hear what others have to say, sometimes there is truth in it. And that truth is a push in the right direction.
Yes, you may look sleep deprived, and your life has become a mess. But all of that should motivate you to push forward, and to pull your life together.
Let those nasty comments and criticisms motivate you to become better than you ever were.
If you are being criticized, then that someone must not at all know how you feel. They do not understand how you question your own life, and your own decisions. They just see someone who failed in a way that they have never failed before. And they think that it is below them. But just those thoughts puts that person below you.
And if you can come out of criticisms and addiction and become stronger, then you have undergone a much more character-rising experience than anyone else.
Walter Anderson said it well: “Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.”