I'm a wordsmith so I got some great food for thought out of this question - thank you X. I use the word "recovering" to describe my approach to dealing with alcohol and my experience as the child of an alcoholic. This is what the online dictionary says about that word:
v. re·cov·ered, re·cov·er·ing, re·cov·ers
1. To get back; regain.
2. To restore (oneself) to a normal state: He recovered himself after a slip on the ice.
3. To compensate for: She recovered her losses.
4. To procure (usable substances, such as metal) from unusable substances, such as ore or waste.
5. To bring under observation again: "watching the comet since it was first recoveredfirst spotted since its 1910 visit" (Christian Science Monitor).
v.intr.
1. To regain a normal or usual condition, as of health.
2. To receive a favorable judgment in a lawsuit.
First up, it's a verb and I think that fits perfectly. Verbs are action-oriented "doing" words - so I'm "doing"something.
1. To get back; regain.
For me, I'm regaining my life - alcohol and my experiences as an adult child hadn't left me with much of one when I started recovery.
2. To restore (oneself) to a normal state: He recovered himself after a slip on the ice.
I'm undoing some pretty heavy family conditioning - that "normal" state is a work in progress as I try to learn what normal actually is.
3. To compensate for: She recovered her losses.
I'm coming up on six years sober and each year I'm still "getting back" things I lost to the diseases of addiction and codependency.
4. To procure (usable substances, such as metal) from unusable substances, such as ore or waste.
I'm getting a usable (manageable) life out of a life that wasn't manageable.
5. To bring under observation again
This one is the clincher - I am always going to be an alcoholic and a codependent. If I could be "recovered" I wouldn't have to watch out for warning signs.
I only need to take one drink, or try to control one other person's life instead of my own to end up in a world of pain again. I learned two years ago when I started seeing an active alcoholic that I can be back in that painful place again faster than you can say "12 step meeting."
For me, it was a wake-up call that I'm going to have to -actively- keep my diseases under observation for as long as I'm breathing. That's recovery - there is no "recovered". You can't be a "recovered" diabetic, either - it's a condition that you manage by keeping it under observation and actively managing it.
Take what you like and leave the rest - I know that some people prefer to refer to themselves as "recovered" - which I think indicates a process that's complete. That's their business. For me, using a word that means "still underway" reminds me that I'm in a lifelong process and can't afford to take my eye off the ball. This isn't an indictment or an imposition - it's something that I need to do if I want a productive, peaceful life that's worth living.
Peace out,
SL.