Long-Term Recovery: The Gratitude List

I used to have horrible mornings, and they would lead to incredibly horrible days. I would set my alarm clock for when I needed to wake up, but it was my daily pattern to hit snooze several times before getting out of bed. When I would finally get out of bed, I would be running late. That would lead to me throwing on clothes, leaving work with neither a prepared lunch nor breakfast. If I was lucky, I would grab a pop tart while I was headed out the door. If I didn’t have one of those, I would stop at McDonalds or just go without eating breakfast.

Long-Term Recovery: Why Relapse isn't an Option

“Everyone has a relapse left in them, but I don’t have another recovery in me.”

Absolutely one of the worst things I have heard.

Ever!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do so many people leave that relapse an option, stalking them every day. Is it not enough that our brains and old playmates and playgrounds are already against our continued sobriety? It was for me, so I decided to do something about it. I tried on long-term recovery and liked how it fit. Then I poured myself into recovery like I had my addiction, 24/7 and 365. I kept the momentum going and never stopped doing the next right thing!

Long-Term Recovery: Overcoming Resentments

I was asked to talk to one of my friend’s friends. She had overdosed and would be spending a couple of weeks in the hospital. She had also gotten a probation violation. As we talked all I heard were resentments. She was angry with the world!

“How dare the hospital keep me here.”

“How dare my probation officer file a violation.”

“If my friend hadn't got me high, I wouldn't be in his mess.”

Her resentments reminded me of………..me! Resentments robbed me of my serenity for years. I allowed them to keep me trapped in a cycle of addiction for years. If not resolved, they will do the same to you!

Long-Term Recovery: It Works if You Work It

I was hacked off this week. A friend relapsed, and it made me angry at first. How can anyone who has significant clean time relapse. Once you have several years and see life is amazing without drugs/alcohol, what could possess you to use again?

Then I remembered how cunning, baffling and strong addiction can be. I thought back to my relapses in the past. I no longer wanted to use, yet I did anyway. There were multiple reasons that I relapsed. In a way they were useful to me because I always learned and grew from them.

In the wake of his relapse, I reflected on the things that have kept me rocking a sober recovery this time. Never forget, your addiction is in the back of your head: running on a treadmill, lifting weights and doing research! It is getting stronger and smarter each and every day, trying to figure out the best way to take over your life again. This is to be avoided at all costs!!

If our addiction is getting stronger and smarter, we obviously need to insure our recovery is stronger than our addiction. The question is, how do we strengthen our recovery? There is no easy way. In fact, it can be difficult at first. Here is how I have built long-term recovery:

Long-Term Recovery: The One Rule that Changed My Life

One rule that can change your life…….

Does that sound too good to be true?

 Is there really one rule that can change your life?

YES!!!

I am living proof that you can change your life. I have been through the wringer. I hit rock bottom and grabbed a shovel. It wasn't good enough for me. If being bad was all I was good at I wanted to excel. I gave my addictions my all. I had a hole in me that I kept trying to fill. There was never enough drugs, girls or money to fill the void, so I kept doing more.  

Then I hit my last bottom. I realized I not only needed to get clean, I wanted to get clean. I worked recovery like I had addiction, all day every day. I made positive changes instead of just talking about them. One of those changes was asking myself several questions before I did anything. After a while, I no longer needed to ask myself the questions anymore.

Why?

Long-Term Recovery: Healed People Heal People

People who are hurting lash out and hurt others. It may be unintentional, it may be on purpose, but it happens. But if hurt people hurt people, then the opposite is true as well. 

Healed people heal people.

This is absolutely true. Once I have overcome something, I have a unique insight into what I went through that most people don’t have. I can share what has helped me, what I have seen work for others and can use the strength and wisdom I have gained to give hope to others who share the same struggle.

Long-Term Recovery from Addiction: Controlled but not Cured

The other day one of my friends said, “Addiction isn't a disability because it can be cured. You can’t cure a disability.” 

I wanted to scream, “YOU CANNOT CURE ADDICTION!!!” but controlled the urge. Instead, I thought out my reply. As someone in long-term recovery it is my job to educate people, which needs to be done carefully so as not to alienate them. Too little and the point is not made, too much and I am offensive and the point is not heard.

Several questions popped into my head:

Can addiction be cured?

What does cured mean?

Am I cured?

Featured Write Up about Better Life in Recovery from Addiction Professional Magazine's November/December 2014 Issue by Gary Enos

In his role as an addiction counselor, David Stoecker figures he can have an impact on possibly around 100 people a year. As director of the community organization Better Life in Recovery (BLIR) in Springfield, Mo., Stoecker is looking to influence the lives and thoughts of thousands.

The community events that BLIR sponsors might seem modest when looked at in isolation, but Stoecker sees them as building local traditions and putting a public face on recovery. Maybe a river cleanup event will strengthen a recovering person's resolve to continue to give back in her daily life. Maybe seeing an elected leader throw out the first pitch before hundreds of recovering individuals at a ceremony preceding a minor-league baseball game will give a fan in the stands some pause to think about how substance abuse affects his world.

“The idea for BLIR started on a bike ride with my wife,” recalls Stoecker, 42. “I felt that I wasn't doing enough, but I wasn't sure what to do.”