Have you ever struggled with telling your recovery story?

Telling our recovery story can be hard but worth it. Recovery itself is both challenging and rewarding, and individuals in recovery tell their stories to offer encouragement and hope that it can done. That it is possible not just to survive, but to thrive in sobriety.

Recovery From Addiction is not for the Faint of Heart

• Stopping (or reducing) using alcohol or other drug use takes guts and conviction.
• Defeats and mistakes are a natural (but not necessary) part of the journey. Dealing with slips and lapses takes resilience and grit.
• Changing our friends circle takes patience and diligence.
• Learning new ways to deal with stress, anxiety, anger, fear, boredom, loneliness, and grief  requires humility, commitment, and a willingness to learn.
• Practicing being assertive, setting boundaries, and building (or rebuilding) relationships takes tolerance and bravery.
• Dealing with why we started using takes self-knowledge, vulnerability, and hope.

Telling Our Recovery Story

And, at some point we are invited to share our experience, strength and hope. And sometimes this requires to most courage of all. Because to talk about how far we’ve come in life, we need to start with reflecting on some of the most harrowing experiences in our life. Our pain. Our traumas. The ways the addiction often hurt not only us, but the people we love most. AND doing this with people we may not know, or even with the general public, who do not always understand addiction, can leave us feeling exposed and vulnerable. So, telling our recovery story can be hard but worth it.

Looking Forward

Despite the bravery required, we DO share our stories. Because we no longer live in the pain of the past, but in the hope of today and tomorrow. Recovery is hard but it’s worth it, as we discover the great benefits of living a new life, including

• Stronger relationships with family
• Making new friends
• Gaining confidence and self-love
• New freedom from shame
• Better physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health
• Identifying and working through co-occurring issues
• Living with less fear and more joy
• Having credibility at work
• Modelling grace and gratitude
• Establishing healthy boundaries, taking on less of other people’s responsibilities

Every Recovery Story is Different

There are many pathways to recovery, and yours may be the one that inspires another individual in recovery who needs encouragement and hope today.

Watch Our Stories Here: