After 18 years in active addiction and 2 years 4 month’s meth free…
During the years in active I had “breaks” but that’s exactly what they were just breaks I never had the emotional capacity or emotional maturity to be able to quite.
I was looking for spiritual fulfillment also , a emptiness a void a hallowness plus lacking the emotional maturity and capacity meth ,was my coping strategie after my brother died to “death by his own hands” suicide…
THE BIGGEST part of my sobriety is keeping my Emotional Sobriety intact and under control,
Given I was very much an emotional drug user.
Keeping my Emotional Sobriety intact looks like keeping myself safe,trust comes into this with certain family relationships were the trust is simply not there,I also keep away from relationship’s… basically anything that will EMOTIONLY tip me off the scale’s…and
Listening before I speak
How many other people need to Keep there Emotional Sobriety intact to keep sobriety…
And…
What do your coping strategies look like
2 years 4 months is amazing M – way to keep your sober streak going.
I am so sorry to hear about your brother. My deepest condolences.
I do find that my sobriety is very much linked to my emotional and spiritual journey. If i am not strong on those fronts then i will fall in my sobriety. For me a good support system (my family and this site have been key) are fundamental for my emotional growth. I am able to take on whatever life throws my way with a strong backbone - knowing i can feel all my emotions and yet not let my emotions rule my feelings. I have learned to sit with how i feel - write it out, talk it out, shout it out - whatever it is to process the emotion and move forward rather than try to hide or dull them.
As for spirituality. I rely on my HP heavily to guide me. For me my HP is a energy around me that keeps me on a positive path. Through prayer and meditation i am able to connect with this energy and with myself. I am able to feel grounded and with one with my surroundings (if that makes sense).
Laughter - lots of laughter – i find this to be a key on my journey - - a sort of healing power to lighten my burdens.
Awesome response and yes totally agree laughter is a must…
Is actually really odd dealing with emotions without substances to hide behind, definitely something i have had to practice on.
Does how ever take me a few hours to process if I hit what I call “the red zone” but I geuss that is to be expected after not dealing with emotions in a healthy way.
Definitely a PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT in my case before it would take days to process now I’ve got in down to a few hours
that is progress my friend. i too find it takes me time to deal with stuff but hey at least we are now dealing with it – this is a step in the right direction.
My emotions and alcoholism are very linked. I have to hold boundaries with family and am learning how to experience emotions in a healthy way.
As a drinker I often screamed or cried or got fairly angry out of nowhere. Or I drank and became flat. My moods are much more manageable in sobriety but they still need work. Therapy starts tomorrow.
One thing is for sure, losing myself in alcohol and unhealthy coping habits was not helping me do anything but avoid my emotions.
Congratulations on ur sobriety! I can really relate to ur post about emotional sobriety. For 22 years i used drugs to cope with intense emotion. At the age of 15 i began using bcuz i absolutely hated how i felt. My emotions were extreme at the time due to an undiagnosed mental health issue and so that added to that “urengcy” to use drugs. I definitely took drugs to alter how i felt. And then used drugs to cope with trauma from the abuse i endured thru a past relationship as well as thru working in the sex trade.
When i came into recovery 609 days ago i started medication for my mental health which helped alot to balance my emotions. But then i also did alot of coping techniques to help. I have a different set of skills that work best depending on what im feeling in the moment. And recovery has given me the opportunity to discover what those are. Self care is also soooo crucial for me, as well as listening to my body and what it needs, bcuz i know in the problem i neglected my needs alot. Therefore it was crucial that i began listening to myself and my needs in recovery i still am working on balancing my emotions to an extent but it certainly is alot better in recovery than it was out in active addiction
Emotions played no part in my addiction they were a biproduct of my addiction, I picked up everyday no matter what emotion I was feeling until finally the only emotion left to me was despair.
Now a few years sober and a bit more spiritually sound my emotions don’t seem so important, I’m not what I feel I am what I do. Also I don’t concern myself with other people’s business or opinions this seems to give me a lot less to worry about.
i still am working on balancing my emotions to an extent but it certainly is alot better in recovery than it was out in active addiction