Category: Ambition

In the early stages of your recovery, it may seem difficult when considering how to get a sponsor to walk you through the twelve step program so you can get and maintain a life in sobriety.  However, a sponsor plays a significant role during your recovery journey.  Choosing a sponsor can seem overwhelming and many addicted individuals often contemplate over what qualities to look for which can prolong them getting a sponsor and started on working their program of recovery.

Related: The Watershed Facebook Page

How to Get A Sponsor

12-Steps To Recovery

A sponsor is someone that you are going to be working the 12 steps with, so don’t overthink it too much that you decide not to even get one. This is just a simple guide to help you in the direction of finding a sponsor, but should not deter you from ultimately picking one.

Identify: They Understand You

It’s beneficial to find someone you identify with and can connect with. This does not mean they have to be identical to you, it just means that they too have suffered from alcoholism and/or drug addiction and have recovered through the 12-steps.

Time: You Can Count On Them

When picking a sponsor it works best when they have time to meet you and speak with you as you go through the steps. They do not have to devote 100% of their time with you, but enough that you are able to successfully go through the steps as you achieve recovery.

Needs: They Have The Recovery You Seek

Have they done the steps? Are they trying to the best of their ability to practice principles in all their affairs? Do they practice what they say? Are they actively trying to get closer to their higher power and grow in recovery? If you can answer yes to these questions, then they might be the sponsor for you!

Thinking about how to get a sponsor can be overwhelming, but think of it as developing new friendships.  Ultimately, you are creating a network in the Twelve-Step Program composed of sober supports and a sponsor is just one more support to add to that mix. Don’t think about it too much though, because at the end of the day, you just have to make a willing, honest, and open-minded start to begin your journey in recovery.

A plan of action when recovering from an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol can be helpful because the individual may experience setbacks along the way as they trudge forward.  The process of getting and maintaining sobriety can be uncomfortable in the beginning, which is why figuring out a plan that works for the individual is a great suggestion.  A newly recovering alcoholic and/or addict may still be dealing with areas of unmanageability in their life, which can emphasize how they might benefit from having more structure added to their routine.  In addition to this, it can also bring to attention what may be preventing them from progressing further along in their recovery process.

Plan of Action

Structure

Structure is an important and necessary component to the recovering individual’s life.  Without it, they wouldn’t be functional.  Setting up a plan of action and adhering to configuring how to become accustomed to it can provide them comfort because it can bring them consistency.  A recovering individual may need this, especially in the beginning of their recovery when they don’t have the familiarity of substances to resort to as a method of solving their problems.  While they are building healthy coping skills, structure provides a schedule that can help the individual keep themselves accountable for being at locations like work, appointments, and other engagements on time.  When the individual was abusing substances, it’s likely they weren’t as punctual because they were too focused on getting their next fix of the substance.  Now they can be more functional and work toward better time management and more character building exercises.

What’s preventing progress in recovery?

Taking a look at this question can push an individual even further along in their program of recovery, which may be exactly what they need.  When they are able to truly look at this type of question and see what’s holding them back, they can begin to focus on making changes.  If they notice they aren’t attending enough meetings, then the individual can amp their 12-step attendance up a bit, or maybe it is time to start adding different meetings into the mix and mingling with some new recovering individuals in the program.  Trust is built when a recovering individual can be authentic with others in their program of recovery.  Growth cannot be brought when the individual remains stagnant and stays doing the same thing continually.  The individual might like trying out new meetings from time to time to meet new recovering individuals nearby.  Another suggestion may be that the individual has stopped listening, so maybe it’s time to reach out to others in their program of recovery and start taking suggestions.  If the individual in recovery isn’t listening to others, they may be at risk of being on a scary self-will run riot [link to blog], which never turns out well for the individual or anyone in their way.  Not only does this prevent their own progress, but the recovering individual will take out others in their program of recovery too.  The individual’s actions impact the lives of others around them.

Unmanageability can be noticed particularly in the early stages of recovery from drug and/or alcohol addiction, which has potential to stunt their growth.  With a plan of action set in place that involves managing structure and taking a look at what may be preventing progress during recovery, addicted individuals can best tap into their program and focus on living a sober lifestyle.

When you were active in your addiction to alcohol and/or drugs, you were powerless over how to take care of yourself properly and most likely treated yourself with disrespect or a lack of compassion.  Even in recovery, you may latch on to other people, places, and things while longing for these resources to provide the comfort the substances once provided you.  Taking care of yourself in recovery and discovering how to stop controlling people will prove to benefit you as you migrate along your path living happy, joyous, and free.

Learning How to Take Care of Yourself

These ideas seem simple, but basic tips for the process of recovery get overlooked.  Going back to the basics can save you during your recovery to help pull you out of feelings of self-doubt and pity that may seem unbearable in the moment.

Understand your mind plays tricks on you

It’s critical for you as an alcoholic and/or addict to notice how you can’t trust your own thinking.  You cannot afford to stay stuck in your own head and you should always run your “great ideas” by a trusted sponsor, sober supports, and/or professionals.  Alcoholism and addiction are diseases that are cunning, baffling, and powerful.  It’s necessary for you as an alcoholic and/or addict to be reminded on a regular basis that you suffer from a disease and can get clouded in misjudgment.

Certain obligations should be maintained

It should not go unnoticed that the recovery process is a daily reprieve.  Your sobriety is only contingent on the work you do for yourself in that day.  You must keep up with your recovery on a regular basis if you want to stay clean and sober as well as feeling mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually well-balanced.

Meditation and prayer is key to sanity

Getting in touch with your spirituality is important because it can provide you the peace you need in order to stay in tune with your sobriety.  In order to stay level-headed and at ease to veer from mental obsession, you’ll need to find that conscious contact with your spirituality.  If you are struggling throughout the day, then an example like simply calming yourself down through counting backwards can work wonders.

Spot-check yourself throughout day

Checking in on yourself and seeing where you are mentally and emotionally at during the day can help you because it allows you to check in with yourself.  You may begin to notice when you are frustrated, sad, or uncomfortable.  It can prevent you from overreacting and signify if you need to apologize to someone immediately.

Reach out to others

You cannot and do not have to do this process alone.  Recovering from an addiction to alcohol and drugs is extremely difficult and though it may become less of a struggle over time, there are still bound to be moments of deep sorrow.  You may grow to be extremely perplexed and be thrown with challenges.  Your recovery program offers you people who are dealing with the same feelings and disease as you, so use the resources provided and reach out to others in recovery.  It makes all the difference when you can communicate with people who understand where you have been and what you are feeling.

Taking care of yourself may look like a hefty order, but it’s necessary.  You’re worth putting in the effort to treat yourself well.  When learning how to take care of yourself, you’ll naturally learn to stop controlling others and find peace.

More: Self-Care Steps

The person you were when you were active in your addiction to alcohol and/or drugs was likely to be the type that was consumed with self but the countless benefits of sobriety can include allowing you to learn the significance of showing up for life which thankfully pulls you outside.  This could be the greatest gift because it emanates the psychic change that battles the worst of your disease – a sickness of self.  The effects of sobriety can take fold on your every day behavior in the most beautiful way by providing you with the ability recognize selfish and self-seeking tendencies.

Showing Up for Life

In order to understand how far you’ve come as a result of your recovery, you should take a look back at where you were when you were active in your disease.  Remembering how sick you were when you were acting out in selfish, self-seeking, dishonest, and fearful ways shows the progress you’ve made.  Considering specific moments when you affected others negatively can prove how your drinking and drugging impacted more than just you.  The person you were might have been the type that was too busy to respond to your loved ones phone calls because you were out abusing substances late at night and unable to stop to speak with them.  It didn’t matter if there was an emergency because you needed to get right with yourself.  You didn’t care about anyone other than yourself.  Work, school, projects, financial responsibilities, and other obligations did not matter.  The life you had commitments and responsibilities for ceased to matter because you were held captive to your addiction.  Substances were directing your every notion; they were the main driving force in your life.

Today, now that you are working a program of recovery and thinking more clearly, you are able to see the truth and veer away from selfishness because you aren’t actively searching for your next dose to get right with yourself.  You can instead show up for the people you care about.  Sobriety can not only allow you to be present in conversation with others, but can bring you to realizing how vital showing up for life is.  This means engaging with others and not just having meaningless conversation but rather taking the time to be part of what’s going on.  Saying what you feel and meaning what you say by connecting can instill authentic moments that add up to what makes sobriety worth it.  When you were out there drinking and drugging, you may have been craving real moments to fill that gaping hole inside of you, but you instead filled the void with alcohol and/or drugs.  The reality is substances cannot create any substantial, lasting joy.  If a loved one or newcomer in recovery contacts you, the person you are today now that you are clean and sober is likely to be reliable.  You are dependable and can pick up the phone today because you aren’t consumed with yourself or getting the next fix.

Relieving The Obsession To Pickup 

To be relieved of the obsession to drink and/or drug is nothing short of a miracle and showing up for life is something you should not take for granted.  The disease of addiction can pull you away from being present and keep you from seeing the truth about how you are affecting the lives of others around you.  The benefits of sobriety can include bringing you back to reality to help you be able to discover the importance of being there for people like your loved ones.

What life changes will be noticeable in recovery immediately and gradually over time?  This is a question that many addicts ask themselves both before and during their recovery process.  There are several benefits of recovery, especially when it comes to your well-being.

More: The 5 Stages Of Recovery From Addiction

Being Present

Being able to experience each moment as it happens is a gift.  During your use, you may have been focusing on one thing: getting your next fix of your drug of choice.  With true recovery, you may notice yourself able to appreciate where you are in the present.  Whether you are going for a walk, talking with a loved one, or enjoying a holiday with accompaniment, you will be able to partake in the activities whereas during your use you may have been more jumpier, agitated, or in your own head space.  You finally will see yourself not skipping the opportunity of living your own life.

Selfishness Fades

When you come off your drug run and work the program of recovery, you may see how your thoughts cease to be centered on yourself.  You may even be reaching out to others, offering suggestions that were once given to you, and helping others with something they are struggling with.  You will finally get the chance to admit you know what someone else is going through and act as support for them.

Clearer Mind

On alcohol and/or drugs, addicts lack a sense of stable and healthy thinking.  You can function better without the use of a mind-altering substance because you won’t be “playing doctor” by taking in chemicals that manipulate your natural brain chemistry.  Focusing and being able to concentrate may get easier as a result, making decisions less impulsive and not as difficult to make.

Optimistic Outlook

Abusing substances can make addicts wallow in self-pity, but when they become clean, they give themselves a chance to work through their struggles.  After this, they may have a better outlook on life.  Hope is restored in recovery and the pain begins to recede.

Listening to Your Conscience

In the process of recovery, you may develop a better sense of what you believe is right or wrong.  You may find that you can better listen to your conscience now that you are off your alcohol and/or drugs.  When you were taking substances, you probably had to lie, cheat, steal, and partake in other unhealthy behaviors. Now, honesty may become an inadvertent habit.

Understanding Yourself

You may have lost an understanding of who you are when you were in the midst of your addiction because you became something you probably never thought you could be.  The situations you may have placed yourself in and the behaviors you displayed during your substance abuse probably transformed you into someone other than yourself.  Getting sober allows you to rediscover the person you were meant to be.  It can be especially exciting to relearn your interests, passions, and thought process.  When you are able to get to know yourself and your true desires in life, you may find motivation to better achieve your goals.

More: Daily Meditation

The benefits of recovery and the changes you may see in yourself are infinite.  Every day will give you the opportunity to better yourself progressively.

When in the process of recovery from an addiction, a common suggestion may be to act as if. This can be a confusing concept for the recovering addict to comprehend, especially early on. Allowing such a heavy theme to digest can prove to be beneficial for the addict as they trudge their way to learning more about the disease they have and divulging into working on themselves to pry away at the root of what drives them to act out on their addiction.

Act As If to Recover

The recovering addict may first ponder what exactly it even means to act as if. A sober support may suggest that along the way the recovering individual continue on in trusting their program of recovery as if they are recovered by taking suggestions, reaching out to other sober supports, and continuing to believe that recovery is attainable. The idiom of faking it to make it has proven to have worked for many individuals striving toward recovering from addiction because eventually these “acts” begin to stick like glue in the addict’s life and become more ritualistic or genuine in nature. In other words, what may begin as the addict having to act as if during the process of recovery from an addiction may transcend into authentic routine for the recovering individual through progress and transformation when they become entirely ready by having willingness to grow.

The Art of Surrendering

Many individuals in recovery wind up surrendering their will, only to take it back and try to control matters in their life that they realistically know they have no power over anyway. This constant back and forth can cause frustration in their own lives and they may see how simpler it could be just to wave that white truce flag from the beginning by accepting the things they already know they cannot change. When individuals can stop burning up all this energy so foolishly and let go of this burden of worrying about trying to keep such a strict mandate on life’s ordinance by instead remaining in peace with the ebb and flow of how it goes, then they will find far more contentment with themselves and others.   When an individual in recovery can act as if, they begin to show signs of surrendering because they are willing to go to any lengths to recover from their addiction to try to recover to achieve that sense of peace.

Surrendering to the process of recovery can be an essential piece to an individual’s recovery because it shows that the individual is willing to give every bit of themselves in order to get better. It comes back to how badly the individual wants to recover and if they are truly willing to take each of the allotted necessary suggestions that have worked for a great many others before him. What used to be somewhat robotic or told to the recovering addict may now be more wanted by the individual as opposed to a demand or requirement. It won’t feel so commercial or artificial. The recovering addict can feel like the divine and authentic self moving forward with their recovery and able to help others as they begin to suggesting that they act as if until they can genuinely know to do otherwise in their recovery.

Looking for more inspiration to help you on your road to recovery? Click here: Drop The Rock.