One of the things that can trip us up in our recovery is wanting a quick fix, an immediate cure, an overnight resolution to a years-long problem. Our addictions have been plaguing us for much of our lives. Expecting that we’ll recover instantly and have all of our problems solved right away is unrealistic. We’re going through drastic changes in our thinking. We’re developing entirely new sets of beliefs. We’re undergoing huge emotional transformations. We’re feeling healed in certain areas and challenged in others. We eventually come to discover that there are no quick fixes when it comes to recovery – just energy and dedication.
Committing to Self-Healing
Recovery is a lifelong journey. It’s a commitment we make to ourselves. We’re choosing to redirect our energy in positive, constructive, self-affirming ways. We’re shedding the self-destructive and self-sabotaging behaviors. We’re choosing healthier relationships. We’re being kinder to ourselves. All of these life-changing developments take time. We’re growing and changing, and it’s a process.
When we expect there to be quick fixes to our problems or expect our recovery to be immediate, we miss out on the opportunity for deeper self-healing. We don’t do as much self-reflection, and we don’t necessarily help ourselves evolve forward. When we keep ourselves stuck, we often relapse, because we haven’t been taking the time to learn more about ourselves and deepen our understanding of our addictions. We still have so much to learn, especially when we’re newly sober, but many of us want to rush through the journey so we can get to our destination sooner.
Rushing to the Destination
The “destination” for many of us is feeling healed of our addictions, which means feeling as though we’re no longer out of control, self-destructive, and powerless over our addictions. We think of the “finish line” as being a lasting recovery – but for a recovery to truly last, it requires time, dedication, and energy. It requires that we make the conscious choice to commit to ourselves and to our sobriety every day. When we want a quick fix, our energy is often one of avoidance, and therefore resistance. We’re avoiding doing the hard work of recovery. We’re avoiding looking at ourselves closely and honestly. We’re avoiding admitting our shortcomings and limitations. We’re afraid to commit. We might not be ready yet for the challenging inner work that comes with a meaningful, lasting recovery.
Self-Sabotage Driven by Fear
We might not take our recovery programs seriously, in part because we think they’re too time-consuming or too demanding. We might not have the patience yet to put the time in to do the work. Or we might not be ready emotionally, especially if we are driven by fear. We might be so afraid of failing at our recovery, for example, that we sabotage our recovery altogether by not giving it a real try. We totally hold ourselves back from the lasting happiness we’re seeking when let fear win or look for an instant fix.
Eager for Redemption
Sometimes we want a quick fix because we’re so desperate to feel whole and healthy again, after years of feeling broken, exhausted, and depressed. We feel desperate for redemption. We’ve made so many mistakes and messed up so many times, we just want to redeem ourselves. We want our loved ones to be able to forgive us. We want to be able to feel proud of ourselves, and know that our family and friends are proud of us too. We’re eager to repair the damage we’ve done and right our wrongs. We want to make amends to the people we’ve hurt, and we want to regain their trust. We want to get back on our feet financially. We want to fix our lives. We want everything to be changed for the better, and we want everything fixed, right now.
Avoiding Discomfort
Everyone’s recovery experience is different, but for many of us, the time between when we first get sober and when we’ve successfully managed to stay sober for a solid length of time – perhaps the first year or two – can be highly uncomfortable. We often feel on edge, trying to live a “normal” sober life that is a striking contrast to the life we lived under the influence, when we were still actively using. We can feel nervous and at odds with ourselves. We’re still trying to figure so many things out – how we want to live, how we’ll navigate recovery, how we’ll make sobriety work and fit it into our lives. It can all be very overwhelming, and we may be tempted to relapse.
This period of time can be a very uncomfortable part of the process, when we might be sober already but have yet to feel truly recovered. We resist this emotional discomfort and want to rush through it, to avoid feeling it as much as possible. However, we learn over time that with growth often comes growing pains, and the discomfort we feel is part of the process of transforming ourselves. When we choose to really give time to our recovery, to give it our full energy and manifestation power, when we abandon this idea of having a quick recovery, we empower ourselves to really heal.
At The Guest House Ocala, our experience with addiction and recovery makes us uniquely equipped to be able to understand the struggles you’re experiencing. We’re here to help. Call 855-483-7800 or visit www.theguesthouseocala.com today for more information about our treatment programs.