Addiction robs one of many things, tangible and material things and intangible like our morality, value boundaries, hope and purpose. I have heard many individuals in active addiction saying that they do not know who they are. Their identity has been slowly eroded by active addiction.
When people enter into recovery they would like to regain the things they lost in active addiction. This can become an obsession and one stands the risk of becoming impatient resulting in frustration. There is a sense of needing to catch up, especially regarding tangible material losses. One can forget about the other intangible losses and neglect this. This could be driven by a belief that if I build up materially the intangible losses will follow. A theory followed too often by individuals in early recovery. The neglect of the intangible could lead to feelings of restlessness, irritability and discontentedness or which I refer to as RID. Alcoholics Anonymous refers to RID as being at the core of our addiction. Mind and mood-altering substances and behaviours have been the solution to our RID in the past. When you have made a decision not to use your old solution, you need to have a new solution to your RID. This process referred to as recovery involves actions resulting in a rearrangement of attitudes, perceptions and emotional states etc. This spiritual process is not a quick fix but rather a way of life which addresses the intangible loss of the past and helps us cope with our RID as we navigate life on life’s terms.
We start the process of reinventing ourselves holistically.
SHARING IS CARING
