If you’ve finally decided to enter treatment for your addiction, congratulations! With treatment, you will soon learn how to live without the use of drugs, alcohol, and compulsive behaviors. In a short time, you’ll find that you’re no longer a sick and suffering addict, but a person who is learning to get well – and stay well.
Early in our treatment, recovery seems to be an all-consuming process. This is especially true for those of us who enter an inpatient rehab facility, where we “live, eat, and breathe” treatment, 24 hours a day. Whether or not we attend inpatient or outpatient treatment, however, we learn that recovery is the single most important thing in our lives, because without recovery, we have nothing else.
Does this mean that your whole life will consist of recovery? The short answer is, no. As time goes by, many of the new concepts, behaviors, and practices you learn in treatment will start to become second nature. You’ll integrate recovery into the fabric of your everyday life, so that it becomes not so much something you have to work at, but rather, something you live.
There is an infinite amount of fun to be had in life, once we begin to overcome our addiction. That’s really the point of recovery, after all: That we become free to live productive, purposeful, happy lives. We become free to live life to the fullest, to learn on a daily basis, to forge healthy relationships, and to experience joy. Living our dreams is a huge part of recovery!
Will recovery always be a part of your life? Absolutely – as long as you remain committed to being addiction-free. That’s why former addicts with multiple decades of sobriety continue to attend a 12-step program and stay connected to their sober network. If attending your program for an hour a day, several times a week, seems excessive, consider for a moment how much time you spent chasing your addiction. Remember: If we don’t keep doing the things we learn in treatment, we’ll eventually start doing the things that led us into treatment. Seen in that light, a small investment in maintaining our recovery is a no-brainer.
The Lakehouse Treatment Center understands the worlds of active addiction and active recovery. Years of comprehensive experience have helped us build a unique program focused on changing lives and rebuilding families. From detox to sober living, The Lakehouse program focuses on learning how to live and have fun again- a treatment experience like no other. Call us anytime: 877.762.3707