Right now, right this minute, someone is beginning a journey of addiction. Maybe it drinking a first sip of beer, or smoking a first cigarette, or snorting a line of coke. Maybe it is taking a pill that was prescribed by a doctor, or one casually handed over by a friend.
Just as these new addictions form every day, so to does a new recovery. Someone right now is waking up in a fog, perhaps nor remembering last night, but certain that something in his or her life has to change.
Early recovery is different for each of us, but hard for all of us. I remember when I first made the decision to get clean back in October of 2016. I remember feeling absolutely ravaged by life. I couldn’t feel anything but sadness and emptiness. Even when the most intense cravings passed, desire kept burning in my heart for the life I left behind.
I was talking to someone recently who was in early recovery – less than a week clean after years of use. I was in awe at his ability to face the sadness he was experiencing. It was taking its toll on him, though. He didn’t know if he could hold out much longer.
I told him how I had felt in those early days. Years of getting high had damaged my brain and left me with the inability to experience pleasure without chemical assistance. Eventually, after a great deal of time, I slowly improved.
Sadly, there weren’t words that I could utter that would make this kid feel any better or even believe what I was saying. I wish that somehow I could have found those words, but they don’t exist.
I told him this, and I want to remember this to tell others in the future: think about all those who are just now becoming addicted. Who is going to be there to reassure them that there is a way to recover?
You have walked the road they are on. One day, hopefully they will be in a position to be where you are, just starting out the road to recovery. You will get better. We need you to get better. It will be a fight, but it is a fight worth having because far too many are becoming addicted and will be in need of mentors in recovery.
Please stay on this path to recovery. Your help will be needed very soon.
