The first step to getting help is admitting you have a drug or alcohol addiction. After that it should be smooth sailing right? Wrong. As nice as it would be if recognizing the problem and getting initial treatment fixed it forever, that isn’t the way it works. Much like a diabetic must learn to incorporate daily insulin to his life’s activities, you need to do the same with meetings. Meetings are your insulin.
One day at a time. That’s the philosophy behind drug addiction treatment. It’s because for many addicts, the thought of giving up their drug of choice forever, is terrifying. The way it is approached instead is to just get through today sober and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. This can be applied to meeting attendance as well. Go to a meeting today and tomorrow you can decide whether to go to another one, two or three.
Time leads the way. Once you’ve been attending meetings for a while you are going to see that they are like therapy, medication, and your favorite hobby all rolled into one. Through your meetings you will make friends who are also on the recovery path. Where better to find people who “get it” than in a meeting filled with addicts? Many successful people have daily rituals they perform. Nothing gets in the way of them. For example, a CEO might meditate every day before staff gatherings; a waitress might have a prayer she repeats at the start of each shift. Meetings will become your go-to for balance.
Forever? Yes, you basically need to make meetings a part of your life for the long haul. As you move further along on your sobriety path you might be able to decrease the number of meetings you attend, however, you will always need maintenance meetings. It is the same way that a diabetic will always need insulin. At some point, with the proper diet and exercise he can reduce the dosage, but there will always be a need for the medication. Meetings are the same for you.
Final thoughts: Meetings are an important part of recovery. Remember when you were actively in drug addiction? How much time did you spend seeking drugs, taking drugs, being high and seeking again? And all of that time was wasted on something that had a very negative impact on your life. Going to meetings takes a fraction of that amount of time and the impact on your life is positive. Make sense?
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