What Is The Best Thing You Have Done For YOURSELF in Recovery?

[herbavore]

Share your best strategies and most surprising or inspirational or even most practical acts or thoughts.

How do you deal with PAWS?

How have you tried to go deeper than the drug dependence alone?

How have you changed your life in small ways that are giving you big returns?

How have you changed the way you think about yourself?

How do you keep your hopefulness alive?

 

[MrRoot]

I am still on a journey to full recovery as I am in ORT but I have done some stuff to make myself being able to cope better with life without resorting to drugs.

Learning to accept the fact that you can't life in the past or future but instead in the present was a huge step for me to feel generally better. Key for that has been mindfullness but I am sure there are other routes one might go through to obtain the same ability of living in the present as many philosophies and even religions (especially those of Asian origin) tend to revolve around that same principle.

Learning to ask for help was a huge issue for me but somehow I have managed to get over it and it has helped a lot while getting sober.

Finding an reason for existence has been one big issue that has caused pain for me but I now accept the fact that there might be none but I can just live through my life finding happiness by interacting with others in a constructive way and thus be contempt at just merely existing.

Getting some exercising going on has helped a lot. You don't have to go overboard with it but some aerobic exercise everyday in a forms I like has helped myself to feel better and stay healthy but it took for a while to find right ones.

Getting activities to fill the void caused by extra time available which before has been consumed by being under the influence of a drug has helped too. Again one size doesn't fit all and it took a while to find new activities and getting back to old ones as well. Be creative and try something new as well as old ones.

Accepting myself as I am is a huge deal to myself and various therapies as well as positive feedback from all of those supporting me have helped me to achieve that.

In general learning to ask for help and also accepting help has been a big deal through my journey.

I am not much of a spiritual being and it has took a lot of different therapies and in general a lot of often hard and painful work to do with my mind to get through it all while at the same time some seem to find their answers from religion/spirituality in a seemingly easier and more natural way and I who am I to be against that. As I can't experience what others have experience I can't even know if it has even been any easier at all.

If it works it works and there are plenty of solutions available for a seemingly similar problems.

Edit:

Oh and one thing I have find out to be very effective for health (both mental and physical) in general is eating food which you have cooked by yourself especially when using ingredients which hasn't been processed or processed as little as possible.

It offers the nutrients you need in an easily absorbed form and free of all of those ingredients sneakily added while processing such as extra salt, natriumglutamate and such. It also helps you to get something to do with your own hands which can actually be quite rewarding and therapeutic.

Also keeping a broad diet helps you to get all those nutrients needed in order for body to function and you don't need that much of dietary supplements if even none at all.

 

[herbavore]

Learning to ask for help was a huge issue for me but somehow I have managed to get over it and it has helped a lot while getting sober.

I find that most adult issues have to do with trust. The first thing people do when they cannot trust the world around them is to armor themselves and that is practical for 10% of situations and actually harmful for the other 90% of life. Of course, I just made those numbers up but in other words, usually that armor and the fortress works against you. It was a huge step forward in maturity for me when I learned to ask others for help.

Finding an reason for existence has been one big issue that has caused pain for me but I now accept the fact that there might be none but I can just live through my life finding happiness by interacting with others in a constructive way and thus be contempt at just merely existing.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I came to as well.

Getting some exercising going on has helped a lot. You don't have to go overboard with it but some aerobic exercise everyday in a forms I like has helped myself to feel better and stay healthy but it took for a while to find right ones.

Getting activities to fill the void caused by extra time available which before has been consumed by being under the influence of a drug has helped too. Again one size doesn't fit all and it took a while to find new activities and getting back to old ones as well. Be creative and try something new as well as old ones.

Accepting myself as I am is a huge deal to myself and various therapies as well as positive feedback from all of those supporting me have helped me to achieve that.

The great thing about all three of these points is that they feed each other. Exercising releases endorphins, happiness inside makes you more willing to push the envelope and try new things and feeling the courage from trying new things leads to higher self esteem and self-acceptance, all of which feeds your motivation to keep exercising and trying new things!

Oh and one thing I have find out to be very effective for health (both mental and physical) in general is eating food which you have cooked by yourself especially when using ingredients which hasn't been processed or processed as little as possible.

It offers the nutrients you need in an easily absorbed form and free of all of those ingredients sneakily added while processing such as extra salt, natriumglutamate and such. It also helps you to get something to do with your own hands which can actually be quite rewarding and therapeutic.

Also keeping a broad diet helps you to get all those nutrients needed in order for body to function and you don't need that much of dietary supplements if even none at all.

YES!YES!YES! The most basic component of our existence is what we put in our bodies to sustain life. Sometimes I am amazed at the procurement, processes etc a person will go through to ingest a drug and yet that same person will find it too much work to procure good fresh food and actually spend time cooking it. I'm sure that it has to do with reward centers in the brain but while the effects of food are more subtle, they are certainly capable of delivering good feelings as well as good fuel for the body to use. The fact that most western societies make everyone so busy that the joys of cooking their own food have become a luxury is very sad. It is such an elemental connection to life (and thus a spiritual one).

 

[neversickanymore]

Lately its faceing a big mistake

 

[herbavore]

Lately its faceing a big mistake

Never easy. But fruitful.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Never easy. But fruitful.

That is a great idea for a bumper sticker or tattoo: Be Fruitful



Actually, no, horrible idea for a tattoo. Perhaps bumper sticker though. And yes, now I see you wrote "but"...

 

[CfZrx]

Replaced AA meetings with meditation and exercise in the Redwoods.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I don't think of recovery so much in terms of recovery from addiction or mental illness, I think of it was recovery for. What is my recovery making possible today that I could (and literally only did) dream of yesterday?

This is such a hard question to answer though herb! There are so many things, and I feel like the "smallest" things I do for myself are the most profound and have the most impact when they are established as habits.

So, I'm going to say, eating healthy!

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

To forget entirely any question of whether I am addict, who or what an addict is, whether I fit a particular definition of addict, what addiction is.....

Things started getting better when I just asked myself what my problems were and how I might practically go about starting to fix them.

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Really I think all that stuff that goes along with philosophical definitions of the addict and addiction are huge stumbling blocks for many people and sets off a pattern of thinking that distracts people from their issues. Instead of asking myself what it was that was causing trouble in my life and how I might rectify those things I got caught up in this whole cycle of worrying about whether I am an addict or not, do I fit the definition, do I need abstinence etc etc.

When I forgot about all that stuff and started asking instead:

Is my consumption of drugs causing me problems in my life?
Do I want to do something about that?
What are the behaviors and patterns of thinking I display that are linked to or cause me to take drugs?
How do I change those patterns and behaviours?
Why do I display those patterns and behaviours?

...along with an attitude of realising that there is no right answer answer as to how to stop drugs being a problem in your life and that every person is different and that there is no real value for the individual in trying to pigeon hole themselves......then I started to get better.

 

[CfZrx]

Is my consumption of drugs causing me problems in my life?
Do I want to do something about that?
What are the behaviors and patterns of thinking I display that are linked to or cause me to take drugs?
How do I change those patterns and behaviours?
Why do I display those patterns and behaviours?

Thanks, I may use these questions in a group I facilitate.

 

[F'Loki]

Share your best strategies and most surprising or inspirational or even most practical acts or thoughts.

Great idea for a thread Thanks for this Herby!

How do you deal with PAWS?

Right now I am tapering off diazepam so cannot comment on any PAWS I may get off them (After 1.5 years of use I expect I might, but I will be so occupied with travelling around India and Nepal and focusing on my meditation and doing tonnes of courses in Ayuverdic medicine, mandala painting, volunteering with Tibetan refugees etc. I hope to be too occupied with them, fingers crossed).
But I have been getting opiate PAWS - mainly massive cravings - as I only recently kicked heroin/oxy (about a month ago). As someone who leans heavily on Buddhist teachings and psychology I tend to fall back on this a lot to deal with the symptoms. Rather than go with the "distraction route" where people will go for a run or walk or work out when they get PAWS (nothing wrong with this btw in my opinion) I will tackle it head on, meditate on the feeling, examine it, why it came up, how it makes my body feel, what sensations is it giving me, what thoughts it's giving me, before then gently letting it go. Writing in a private journal is also really helpful. I find this way I can learn rather than just constantly "avert/avoid" the feelings and physical symptoms. Learning why they come up gives me the clarity to see if their are certain triggers I need to deal with or avoid for the time being. I think that is better in the long-run for me than just avoiding it and going for a walk or run. I think in this way you turn something that you feel is acutely negative into something to learn from. Of course it isn't easy and is easier said than done.

How have you tried to go deeper than the drug dependence alone?

Hell yeah. This has rekindled my interest in Buddhism in massive ways. I realise the whole philosophy is basically saying everything in life is basically an addiction, and comes from a very natural human desire to chase and grasp for happiness and run away from pain. We spend virtually our whole lives doing this. Addictions are absolutely everywhere once you start observing reality: Because no one likes to suffer. Addictions come about from trying to mask internal suffering such as mental health problems: Anxieties, past abuse, depression, even plain old boredom....And drugs are not the only addiction. Some people turn to gambling, excessive shopping, excessive eating, blaming capitalism, blaming corrupt cops, blaming "the system" and turning to violence. I know this because i've done literately all these things lol
So yeah, it's gone much deeper than my drug problems. It's actually re-kindled my spiritual side in massive ways. I feel like I need to get completely sober to fulfill my potential, and to be completely free. To me getting off benzos and staying off opiates and everything else represents a massive drive for freedom. I am tasting it more and more each day and it tastes good. lol I want it badly. I just have this punk, self-destructive 'shadow side' that I need to keep in check by listening to it but not acting on it, if that makes sense.

How have you changed your life in small ways that are giving you big returns?

Meditation. Huge returns. It's actually so essential I keep this up. I skip a few days and then people really notice me change for the worse lol Possibly my new drug of choice. But seriously, the returns you get from even just 45 minutes a day of vipassana, mindfulness, metta meditation is profoundly life changing. Relationships become easier, you gain more confidence, you forgive easier, things just don't get under your skin like they used too...That's how it is for me anyway.

Going 'straight-edge': This was not forced on me by outpatient rehab. It's like I said above. I was early to start with the drugs and i'm paying for it earlier, it just isn't worth it on any level. Of course I am not truly straight edge until I get off the benzos. But I am feeling better for it already. Drinking booze is not messing with my withdrawals and my mind and body is ready for the battle to get off them when i'm clean, and there is less chance of relapsing when i'm more or less sober.

How have you changed the way you think about yourself

The whole thing still seems surreal a lot of the time. I think: "How did I, out of all my friends who were into drugs in the past when I was growing up and going to punk shows, end up the heroin/benzo addict?" It's almost amusing.
Asking for help for a drug problem and admitting it to family and friends (non-users) was the single most humbling experience of my life. And one of the most liberating, though it's been a very long road since then of relapsing and admitting again I need help all over again.
It has forced me to be completely honest with myself and I have come to terms with a lot of past trauma in the whole process. I think of myself as not as tough as I used to be, not such a "know-it-all": All in all it's been an ego softening experience. I can now talk about things that are troubling me because I am going through so much therapy, peer group therapy, CBT and meditation. I really embrace counseling these days. I feel like I can be more honest with everyone I meet. Honesty really is key. And for so many years I was not being honest with myself.
But more than anything I recognise I have a very self-destructive, mischievous 'shadowy' side to me that needs to be explored and always kept in check. It's constantly trying to get me to stray from this path to freedom I am on. Buddha called it "Mara" - and it hassled him him every day even when he attained enlightenment and long-after: He'd deal with it by inviting it in, "serving it tea like a guest" and being friendly towards it. I like that because it acknowledges everyone has this 'shadow side' to them but bottling it up and avoiding it is just as bad for you as totally accepting it (I have done both throughout my life), so the 'middle-way' is the only real way to deal with it.

How do you keep your hopefulness alive?

This is the hardest part. Keeping that motivation alive. For me it's the yearning for freedom, to finally fulfill my potential, reminding myself why I am getting sober. I want to live life to the fullest, not die young because I carried on abusing drugs, I want to grow old with my wife and live a fruitful life together. I want to see the world as it is, not through the blur of drugs or all the numerous other addictions that can distort it. What better motivation is there than compassion and freedom? haha
But what is really important is accepting mistakes and just treat them as lessons; Forget the past, don't worry about the future - neither really exist anyway. All we have is the present moment. Be mindful of it. Embrace it. Live it. Recognise the beauty everywhere and even the tiniest acts of compassion, be grateful.

F'loki

 

[herbavore]

Things started getting better when I just asked myself what my problems were and how I might practically go about starting to fix them.

Yep. To me that is the hallmark of a mature, fulfilling life--regardless of whether there is addiction or no addiction. You ask yourself what is causing you pain or lack of motivation or resentment or depression and then you ask yourself," what small change could I make to start me on a different path?"