What is recovery to you?
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 772
What is recovery to you?
A few people have told me that it's not about the destination you are trying to get to, it's the journey to get there. "It's not the destination, it's the journey."
What do you all think? Is it about where your going or how you got there? The destination, or the journey?
What do you all think? Is it about where your going or how you got there? The destination, or the journey?
Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Yew-Kay
Posts: 279
Does the journey ever really end? I mean, it gets to the point where you rarely think about it, so I guess the wheels turn a lot more slowly, but I believe the engine keeps purring, just uses a lot less fuel 
Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Yew-Kay
Posts: 279
Very true! I can't believe a lquid poison stopped me doing so much. Driving (panic attacks), stopped sketching /painting, stopped keep-fit etc etc etc. Really enjoying doing all the things I gave up and feeling like 'me' again.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 189
I agree that recovery is a constant journey. If it was just a destination, then technically I made it already as I stopped drinking 6 days ago. No, this is an ongoing effort and at times a battle when the AV kicks in. It is going to take a lot of practice for it to seem less like a battle but that is all part of the journey IMO.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3,785
I don't want to stop one day and say, "Welp, I learned it all, I can go on my merry way now". If am never going to learn everything. I need to remain open minded and willing.
If a child wants to walk do they stop once they have learned or do they continue and learn how to run? to ride a bike? to drive a car? to fly a plane?
I have learned so much along the journey that I do not ever want to stop that forward motion. To me a destination means I am at the end of the journey, why would I want that?
I think there is a point that we get comfortable with ourselves and our life. It is no longer a day to day struggle but when life hands us lemons, and it will, I want to be able to deal with it. I want to be able to accept what comes down the road and keep my peace and serenity. I will not be able to do that if I stopped picking up help, ideas, relationships, knowledge and strength along the way. Everything I have learned so far can be applied to so much of my life. Since life changes all the time, my best option is to continue to learn so I have some of the things I never thought I would need or use available to me when I do need them and I will need them.
It has happened time and time again. I have pulled so many things off the mental shelf that I placed there for safe keeping that I never thought would matter in my life or I could apply in my life. I was SO grateful that someone had shared something with me and that I had enough sense at the time to hang on to it.
It is all about the journey and I would not trade it for anything. While I can share my experience, strength and hope with others, it is all mine. I never want it to end.
If a child wants to walk do they stop once they have learned or do they continue and learn how to run? to ride a bike? to drive a car? to fly a plane?
I have learned so much along the journey that I do not ever want to stop that forward motion. To me a destination means I am at the end of the journey, why would I want that?
I think there is a point that we get comfortable with ourselves and our life. It is no longer a day to day struggle but when life hands us lemons, and it will, I want to be able to deal with it. I want to be able to accept what comes down the road and keep my peace and serenity. I will not be able to do that if I stopped picking up help, ideas, relationships, knowledge and strength along the way. Everything I have learned so far can be applied to so much of my life. Since life changes all the time, my best option is to continue to learn so I have some of the things I never thought I would need or use available to me when I do need them and I will need them.
It has happened time and time again. I have pulled so many things off the mental shelf that I placed there for safe keeping that I never thought would matter in my life or I could apply in my life. I was SO grateful that someone had shared something with me and that I had enough sense at the time to hang on to it.
It is all about the journey and I would not trade it for anything. While I can share my experience, strength and hope with others, it is all mine. I never want it to end.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
My idea of recovery is quite similar to how I view life in general. And I've had to push through some of the same barriers at several stages of my life (unrelated to addiction) and my recovery from alcoholism. The barrier is that some part of me is a rather goal-oriented person, which implies that I do look for result and outcome in some ways. But I tend to have an equally strong perception and motivation to view life, and recovery, as an open-ended journey with million possibilities... So yeah, I do like the idea of setting specific goals and working towards them, but sometimes (often?) it just does not work that way and I realize once again, that recovery, just like life, is best experienced on the go, focusing on every moment of the journey and not any anticipation.
But then, don't we all have pretty strong goals in recovery? Not to drink/use again. Build a better life. Explore this or that specific avenue in sobriety.
I think for me it's a mix of both goals and open-ended "traveling" that drives it best.
But then, don't we all have pretty strong goals in recovery? Not to drink/use again. Build a better life. Explore this or that specific avenue in sobriety.
I think for me it's a mix of both goals and open-ended "traveling" that drives it best.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,439
It's definitely about the journey.
I can remember my first year of sobriety, I couldn't wait to hit one year. But now, I look back at that first year and I get a bit sentimental about the early days. They were crazy tough, but beautiful, too. The joy of getting back out and doing things was amazing. Everything seemed new again. I can remember the first time I went out walking at night sober. For a long time, I just stayed home and drank at night and the rare occasions when I was out drinking, I was too focused on drinking or too drunk to notice the stars and the night and everything. It was amazing to just walk and think about what I had been missing.
Or I would go walking in crazy bad weather. I don't know where I heard the line, but it was something to the extent of "Only you can feel the rain on your face." It was a joy to be out, even being hammered by rain because I was alive and I could feel.
Or when I felt bad, I would write endless limericks on the sobriety limericks thread. It sucked feeling bad, but there was something beautiful about the creativity it drove me to and sharing with others on SR that would write poems back to me. There is something about pain and struggles that open us up in a way nothing else can.
While I don't wish to go back there, early recovery was a very special time for me. I know now is a special time too and some day I will look back fondly on it as well.
Wherever you are on your journey, enjoy it!!
I can remember my first year of sobriety, I couldn't wait to hit one year. But now, I look back at that first year and I get a bit sentimental about the early days. They were crazy tough, but beautiful, too. The joy of getting back out and doing things was amazing. Everything seemed new again. I can remember the first time I went out walking at night sober. For a long time, I just stayed home and drank at night and the rare occasions when I was out drinking, I was too focused on drinking or too drunk to notice the stars and the night and everything. It was amazing to just walk and think about what I had been missing.
Or I would go walking in crazy bad weather. I don't know where I heard the line, but it was something to the extent of "Only you can feel the rain on your face." It was a joy to be out, even being hammered by rain because I was alive and I could feel.
Or when I felt bad, I would write endless limericks on the sobriety limericks thread. It sucked feeling bad, but there was something beautiful about the creativity it drove me to and sharing with others on SR that would write poems back to me. There is something about pain and struggles that open us up in a way nothing else can.
While I don't wish to go back there, early recovery was a very special time for me. I know now is a special time too and some day I will look back fondly on it as well.
Wherever you are on your journey, enjoy it!!
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,759
Recovery, to me, is about living the best possible life without the need for chemicals. Living in the now, enjoying each moment as it comes. 
The best part of the journey is that I am constantly learning new things.
The best part of the journey is that I am constantly learning new things.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,805
I think the neat thing about recovery is that every time that I think that I am "there", I get a new "a-ha moment" and I start entering a new facet of self discovery. I do think it is a journey and I am learning to excitedly anticipate the next twist and turn. I have felt exponential growth, however, since I quit drinking over a year ago. I think addiction keeps our growth in a holding pattern, for sure.
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