| | 10 Smart Ways to Strengthen Your Recovery By Christie Mckasckle Whether you've been in recovery from addiction for a few days or several decades, these basic, yet profound, principles can help protect you from relapse.  If you're new to recovery, you may have heard a lot of corny-sounding phrases in treatment, counselors' offices or 12-Step meetings. However, the longer you stay clean, the more you'll recognize the life-saving principles they contain. H.A.L.T. This is one of the basic terms for avoiding relapse. H.A.L.T. indicates that you need to stop and take care of yourself when you get Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. When hungry, you not only need enough food, but the right kinds of foods to reduce cravings and repair your body. When angry, stop and deal with it using your recovery tools. Pray. Get some exercise and fresh air. Talk to a sponsor, counselor or trusted recovery friend. Remember that your sobriety, not your ego, is the important thing. To H.A.L.T. that process, go to a 12-Step meeting, phone someone in recovery or be of good service to someone. When tired, rest. Some of us get used to crazy hours during the using years. Eight hours of sleep is a minimum honor your body's clock.
Beyond H.A.L.T., there are many other principles that protect your sobriety, just like there's more to recovery than stopping the using. Get help Humility allows us to receive the help we need. Even when you think it's going well, call someone in recovery every day. One addict, a painting contractor who had "dried out" at the VA and gone back to life as usual, was sure he had it licked. He shared the following story of how cunning, baffling and powerful the disease was when he tried to stay sober on his own. ''I'd stopped in at the convenience store to get a soda on the way home from work. I went in, went to the fridge, got the can, went to the counter and paid. When I got back to my truck, I had a can of beer in my hand. I'd bought a beer, but I really meant to get a soda.' He knew then that his good intentions weren't enough to keep him sober. He threw the beer can away. "I didn't take it back, though," he jokes, "because I didn't want them to think I had a problem!" But it had been a close call once he returned home, he called a recovery buddy to talk. Get honest What was it like for you when you were using? When did it quit being fun? How did you feel when you woke up in the morning? What was the state of your finances, your job and your relationships? How did you feel when you looked in the mirror? You need to tell the truth about these things to your 12-Step group members, a sponsor or counselor.
From time to time, no matter how long you're clean, your disease will romanticize the thought of using again. It seems as if using again will make you feel better or, at least, that it will quiet the voice in your head. But the voice that tries to talk you into using is the same voice that will kick you if you do. When you've shared with others what it was really like to use, it's easier for you to remember feeling when the disease rears its ugly head again. If you don't remember how you felt, the people you've been honest with can remind you. Work the 12 Steps You'll want to work with a sponsor and/or recovery counselor to receive guidance and support for working the Steps and to avoid getting stuck along the way. For those who've been clean for a while, this is just as important as it was at the beginning of recovery. If you're hysterical, it's historical Many addicts do a pretty good job of working Steps One through Five without professional help, but when it comes to Steps Six and Seven, they "don't want to go there." They dread looking at the shortcomings or defects of character or the issues that troubled them in childhood before they ever took the first drink or drug. For someone working the Steps with a sponsor or group, this may be the point at which professional help becomes necessary again at least for a while. Those wise people who wrote the 12 Steps were humble enough to encourage outside help when needed. If you feel stuck, this may be your Higher Power's way of letting you know you need to get extra support. Remember to keep moving forward if you don't want to go backward. Easy does it, but do it Active addiction creates havoc for your finances, health, family and job, as well as with the law. Trying to do too much too soon creates more chaos, so you want to take care of business a little bit at a time. But whatever mess you made while using, don't run from it. Pray. Get good advice from sponsors, counselors and/or lawyers, but definitely clean up your mess. Anything that hangs over your head even if it's all in your mind can trigger relapse. Whatever it is, face it and deal with it. Just for today On the other hand, if you've done what you can, then don't wallow in guilt and shame over past words and actions. This is another phase in which working the 12 steps with a sponsor, or doing individual work with a counselor, can help you. If you've been rigorously honest, and you've done all you can do today to rectify a wrong, then don't wallow in it. If you feel you must do something more for those affected by your actions, then do it. Pray Pray for the power to stay clean and sober. Pray for those who you feel have done you harm. Pray for those who you've harmed. Putting those folks, and yourself, in a Higher Power's care every day is far more helpful than wallowing in anger, shame and regret. Let go and let God For your life to change, it can't stay the same. Identify those people, places and things that were part of a using life. One recovering musician even had to let go of his music for a while. His music and his addiction where so intertwined, he wasn't sure he could play in front of an audience clean and sober. He put his sobriety first and found that several years later he got that musical part of his life back, and that it was sweeter sounding than ever.
For recreation, you may want to consider getting together with other people in recovery for a ballgame or to go bowling. In lots of towns, local AA and NA folks have gotten together to form clubs to relax with friends in a clean and safe environment. Keep coming back If you don't stay plugged into recovery, there's a tendency to use your family as your recovery group. Even if your family members are in recovery themselves, that's not a good idea. Your spouse or parents may love you dearly, and you may love them, but they cannot be your reason for staying clean. If they are your reason for staying clean, then it's too easy to let them be your excuse for using.
So, keep going to meetings, to aftercare programs and to wherever else has worked for you. You need to share the gifts you've received so you can keep them even if some of those gifts come wrapped in corny slogans.
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