For those going through recovery, nothing is as important as the power of community. Here are three advantages of our Los Angeles recovery community.
We thrive on being social, on hunting and trading, and on relying on each other to survive. And long before organized religion, civilization and written language, we relied on community.
To this day, nothing can change any one person’s life as much as the power of a community. If several people come together with a joined interest, the result is an instant bond, a camaraderie that leaves us feeling happier and better. And for people in addiction recovery, that sense of community is vital for sobriety, and vital for survival.
There are a lot of advantages to joining a recovery community in LA, regardless of what kind of a community it is. From halfway houses to Facebook group chats, there are countless ways to meet people all over the city, and come together to celebrate sobriety and promote recovery. And here are just a few reasons why you should take advantage of one of the many recovery communities out there in Los Angeles.
People to Talk To and Turn To
Recovery can feel lonely, especially when all you have for support is your family and a few friends. While these people are invaluable to your continued sobriety, and it’s important to see your family as the one thing in life you can always stay accountable to, it’s an entirely different thing to be among people where you can freely talk about your addiction, and know that every word you say is understood and felt mutually.
Addiction can ravage a person’s life, mind and body. Coming back from that is traumatic as well. In addition, sharing in the experiences of both sides of that is an ultimate form of catharsis that everyone should regularly engage in.
That is where the first advantage truly shines – you get to talk, and listen. You get to share experiences, and let things off your chest. But more importantly, you get to see addiction – and life itself – from entirely different perspectives. You’ll hear what it’s like for someone to struggle with addiction fresh out of jail, or what it’s like to quit the habit while taking care of kids as a single mother, or what it’s like to fall from grace and spiral down into a cycle of addiction after enjoying life with a loving family and a distinguished career.
It can hit anyone, across ages, genders, races and economic backgrounds, for an impossibly large variety of reasons. When everyone comes together to talk, those differences become insights, and everyone’s story becomes a source for inspiration, or learning.
New People to Meet
Friends are a wonderful thing – and if you’re going through recovery, chances are you need a few new friends. If, like many other people, you found yourself struggling with addiction because of a few factors like peer pressure and parties, then you may find that some of your old friends won’t be appreciative of your new completely sober self.
Once you cut out anyone in your life who’s been dragging you down, it’s time to find new people to help build up the new you. That means finding people who push you to be better, explore new and exciting things, and stay sober. A recovery community is the perfect place to find such people.
A Chance to Make a Change
The only thing better than changing your own life for the better is changing someone else’s in the process. Addiction treatment that involves a whole community is more than just about helping one person get better – it’s a community effort meant to help improve life in the community itself for everyone involved. And often, seeing someone else get their life together is one of the most inspiring things to witness.
Through a recovery community, you not only get the chance to make new friends from the most interesting backgrounds, but you also get the chance to experience new things, and help people on their road to improvement. After a while, you won’t be the new guy anymore – but someone else will be. And it’ll be on you and the rest of the recovery community to give them a warm welcome and help them on their path to long-term sobriety.
Those stories that helped you feel like you were on the right track, or the ones that inspired you to make it through the week and stay sober throughout a hard period in your life? You’ll be telling stories like that too, reminding some people that they must work hard at their program every single day to fight back against that old life, and giving newcomers a sense that things get better, and that life can be adventurous, fun, surprising and enjoyable without any drugs, years after addiction.
When you first start out in recovery, it’s easy to get depressed. It’s easy to fall into this line of thinking about the future as a black nothingness, an endless cycle that can’t be escaped. Recovery communities exist so you can not only get better, but show others that they have a future. And that future is bright.
The Lakehouse Recovery Center provides a recovery community for all of those looking for support during their recovery journey. If you or a loved one is suffering, contact our team today. Our team consists of individuals who are all going through recovery themselves, and can help you on your path towards recovery.