Life Is Hard

I was going to title this post 'Life Makes Recovery Hard' but the truth is life is hard. It's the hard parts of life that triggered my defense mechanisms that originally protected me. Then became habits. Then became addictions.

Yes, life is hard. People are mean. Disappointments happen. Families suck. Friends betray. Loved ones die. These are all true and real things. Things that addiction invites us to avoid. But when I take addiction up on the offer to avoid reality what happens is that reality only gets worse. My relationships falter and collapse. I lose my job. My health fails. As reality gets worse addiction invites me to continue avoiding it more and more aggressively. In recovery we call that insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

In recovery I come to admit my insanity. I expose addiction for what it is, a one trick pony. In recovery when the reality of life hits I go to meetings, talk to my sponsor, meet with accountability people, reach out to mentors and coaches, read the Bible and other recovery books, pray, work the 12 steps. Addiction offers the same solution over and over and over. Drink and feel better. Drug and feel better. Have sex and feel better. Shop and feel better. Pick one and do it until you feel better...or, more honestly, until you feel nothing.

Addiction is like that old saying, 'to the man with only a hammer everything looks like a nail.'

If you've grown tired of addiction being the only tool you have to deal with a hard life, might I suggest you get rid of it and take up the whole shed full of tools that can be found in recovery. Find a group specific to your particular addictive behavior or a general group. I highly recommend Celebrate Recovery which has groups all over the world. When you're ready to deal with the reality that life is hard then, maybe, you're ready for recovery. There's no time like right now to get started.