Aug 12, 2015 | By Tim Powers

The Keys To Long Term Recovery

Addiction Treatment

Unlocking The long term recovery

We live in a culture of now.

In our sound byte, bite-size, micro-chipped here today gone later today world, we want results–and we wanted them yesterday.

We want flatter stomachs and washboard abs, and we want our debt forgiven and our hairlines to return to normal. We want to wash the gray away and diminish the fine wrinkles associated with aging. We buy specially formulated elixirs and hardened pieces of plastic and give our hard earned scratch to gurus in three-piece suits that have the answer to everything.

If only it were 1-2-3.

While we desire the ideal, reality will smack us square in the kisser and we will have to face the facts. If we truly want and desire better things for our lives, we have to work for it.

This is especially true if you are recovering from addiction to drugs and alcohol. The ultimate goal is long-term recovery, but we find out it is a long way to the top.

The Cold Hard Truth About Recovery

What do we want? RECOVERY!

When do we want it? RIGHT NOW! RIGHT… FREAKIN’… NOW!!

If you were like me, the first steps taken on the recovery journey was more like a dead sprint. You desperately want to leave the pain and drama of addiction behind and get on with life and hit the karmic redo button. We chomp and the bit to get sober and bask in its’ afterglow.  As you get deeper in your journey, however, it becomes crystal clear that being sober is more than stopping the use of the substance of choice.

Long-term recovery takes sweat equity. Long-term recovery takes blood, sweat and tears (well… maybe not the blood part). Long-term recovery takes fortitude to dig in the dirt and uncover the roots of your addiction and face what you fear head on. You will have moments of doubt and get knocked down and out–but you must get up, shake the dust off and jump back on the horse again.

As they say around the tables of many 12-Step group: It works if you work it, so work it cause you’re worth it. Recovery is a journey which is marked by small victories. That journey will be fraught with obstacles and moments of uncertainty, but in a game of inches baby steps can put you miles ahead.

You Want Long Term Recovery? You Need A Plan

Road-to-Recovery-2If you want your recovery to be meaningful over the long haul, you need a solid blueprint in order to succeed. Going at it halfhearted will do you no good and in the long run you will set yourself up to fail. While the prospect of relapse it always present no matter how solid your recovery may be, keeping the following tips in mind will minimize those chances and give you some breathing room when trouble comes knocking.

The first key to long term recovery is undergoing and completing drug treatment. The drug treatment program that you choose should contain essential services such as medical detoxification, individualized treatment plans drawn from a wide variety of therapeutic techniques, life and coping skills coaching and aftercare options such as outpatient counseling and sober housing among other considerations.

A second key to long term sobriety is building a solid support network of people who are 100 percent behind your new life in recovery. These people can include trusted family and friends, those who are part of your 12-step or sober support group, your counselor and other support people. As you build your support system, you need to jettison those toxic people in your life who still use or are not supportive of your decision to stay clean and sober.

Speaking of 12-Step and other sober support groups, you need to stay proactive in attending regular meetings and working with your sponsor or mentor. Having the encouragement and support of those who are walking a similar path to your own will provide you the inspiration and motivation to keep your head up in recovery–especially those times when you are feeling vulnerable.

Lastly, a key to longevity in sobriety is to keep yourself physically healthy. It may sound like a broken record, but eating right, exercising, getting plenty of rest and practicing good self-care goes a long way in creating harmony within yourself. When you create physical balance, mental and psychological balance becomes much easier.

Make Sober Nation a Part of Your Recovery Game Plan

Keeping on top of your recovery game requires being proactive, and a large part of being proactive is arming yourself with the knowledge you need to be confident no matter what life throws at you. With informative articles, blogs and a comprehensive list of treatment centers and other resources, Sober Nation has got you covered. With new information being added daily, Sober Nation will continue to be your go-to addiction, treatment and recovery resource.

6 responses to “The Keys To Long Term Recovery

  • Tim, thanks for this article. It’s another great reminder, that long term recovery, sobriety and serenity come with with time, but more importantly work. There is no quick fix to true freedom. Keep up the amazing work! Sober Coach Dave

  • Everyday I get high every night I promise not to use tommorrow . Repeat.
    Do I really want to get sober?
    I feel normal when Iam but 15 -years I see and feel the damage not to mention the people iv hurt and still hurting..

  • Richard McLellan

    8 years ago

    The main key to long term recovery is working the steps.
    One must maintain spiritually fit. Your relationship with God is how you stay sober.
    Too many of us think we are keeping ourselves sober. God is being talked of less and less by members especially to New Comers.
    So many of us old timers become dry and rickety. We would burst into flames if we had to admit we are untreated. Going through the steps with extra emphasis on steps 9 & 11. Bill talked about this condition in a letter entitled “Emotional Sobriety, The Next Frontier”.
    Never believe that you are winning your fight against Alcohol. Our only option is to Surrender and admit that we can’t stay sober. We never get the choice to drink or not. Neither in Sobriety or in the Grip of the Grapes. Choice is gone for us. We leave Alcohol up to God to battle.
    Unless you want to struggle with the obsession to drink for years on end.

  • David "Mac" Macmaster

    8 years ago

    Long term recovery? On October 8th this year, 2016 I will be 60 years clean and sober. In October, 2016 I will be 52 years in tobacco free recovery. I guess that is long term recovery, and I am still alive because of it. Maintaining long term recovery is different in some ways from early recovery maintenance, but for me the “infrastructure” is the same. For me, that is active involvement in the “recovery community” as well as trying to maintain a more balanced lifestyle. I use a 12-step program mutual support program with many other ingredients in my recovery recipe. My recovery set me free and gave me a chance to live well, and for the most part I have. At 80 my life is coming to its end, and I am okay with that.

    A benefit from long term recovery is the benefit of becoming more relevant and purposeful. Unlike my pre-recovery life I no longer feel useless living a meaningless life. I have made major mistakes in my recovery and am living with the consequences. Gratefully, I did not make those mistakes and unwise choices worse by drinking, using or smoking before, during or after them. My recovery motto is “G>C=PM; Gratitude over Complaints= Peace of Mind. Also important to me is abolishing my “victim stance.” Sometimes when I am being buffeted by life I do feel like a victim, but I have trained myself to realize no matter what is going on in my life, I have been given the gift of coping with it whether I like it or not. Unwelcome realities are inevitable; drowning in them is not.

    So, long term recovery is possible, as I have discovered and is worth seeking and protecting it. There are many Higher Powers and higher powers to choose from in the program that I am living in recovery. I have the freedom to choose what I need and want and leave the rest for those that want and need them more than I do.

    I shudder to think of what my life would have been had I not found and accepted recovery when I was 21 years old – G>C=PM

  • Are you looking for guests for your podcasts?
    My name is Dr. Dean Robb. I am a recovery coach and I am interested in being a guest on your podcast. I work primarily with people in longer term recovery who are facing issues that tend to come up in long term recovery. Often, they are encountering a “new bottom” in recovery, such as difficult, dysfunctional relationship issues, significant career problems, financial difficulties, or a growing feeling of depression and despair, like “is that all there is?” Often, they find that the traditional recovery tools they have been using for many years don’t work anymore to alleviate their suffering.

    Very often, underneath the surface of all of these life problems, their codependency and/or core issues of childhood neglect, abandonment, abuse and trauma are coming to the surface and undermining their recovery and their life. Traditional recovery literature and tools do not deal with these issues, so many times people facing these difficulties can feel lost or like a failure.

    This is my area of expertise. Part of my competency comes from my coaching training, but I consider that to be a smaller part. A much larger part of my expertise comes from my own hard-won battles with ALL of these issues over the 30+ years of my recovery, which included many years of intensive psychotherapy plus regular attendance at meetings of ACoA and CoDA (in addition to AA). Another large part of my expertise comes from my academic studies and research. I have a PhD in Human Development, and my research focused on the basic human process of how people deal with repeated cycles of “birth, death and rebirth” – i.e. having your life fall apart and then come together again in a new and healthier way. As it turns out, this is a natural process of development that leads one toward their authentic self and fulfillment of their potential.

    I use this expertise to guide people in recovery who are undergoing this difficult and painful process, to capitalize on it for spiritual and emotional growth and create a more authentic, fulfilling life. I would be interested in doing podcasts and/or interviews with you on these topics if you are interested. My web site is http://www.nextstagerecovery, I’m on Facebook at facebook.com/nextstagerecovery, my email is drrobb@nextstagerecovery, and my phone number is 908-757-4721. There are several podcasts and many related blog entries on these topics for your review on my web site. I would love to talk more about all of this with you. Thanks so much for listening!

    Dr. Robb

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