Whether you’re a treatment provider or someone seeking recovery from Addiction, the way to begin each day is with renewed hope that the fight can be won. Addiction is all-consuming and mostly leads to darkness. It progresses from mild to despair to numbness; it is at that point when there is no more feeling that Addiction is at its darkest point. And it is at that point when recovery requires something that can trigger hope.
It can be really easy to succumb to the darkness — we watch our loved ones slip further away from us and in order to protect ourselves, we must sometimes let them go. However, even if we can’t support our addicted loved ones, we should always pray in our own way for their health and for the expansion of their spirit from the singular point of their addiction into a connection to all of life. It’s in that connection to every living thing where hope is found.
Any more, I don’t particular care if someone is addicted; what i care about is whether or not someone loses contact with their own sense of spirit. To me, hope is ultimately lost when a person has absolutely no connection to anything other than the target of their addiction. Many people can be addicted yet still believe themselves to be part of something bigger. I’ve known several people who remain faithful to their own belief in God even when they’re still drinking or shooting up. I can say that in their beliefs, they can still find hope and that connection to something bigger than themselves. It is from that hope where health will emerge.
As treatment providers, we can fall prey to the darkness and go through the motions while we provide treatment. Burnout can happen; it can take a toll watching people die from their addiction. If you are at the point of treating people through rote mechanisms, then take a break and find some way to find your purpose. If you can’t find your purpose, then stop treating people. If you don’t, you will be causing more harm than good.
We all need to find hope in every sunrise; otherwise, life can take a toll. We must all remember that even if we become enveloped in clouds, there is light behind those clouds. We just need to believe its there and eventually, it will burst through. Hope will burn though whatever darkness we face.
