Keeping It Simple

When we first got to the rooms of A.A./N.A. the phrase "Keep it simple" could be heard all the time. It was something we constantly told ourselves because it was in our nature to complicate everything. Eventually we learned that keeping it simple really does work. It brings a sense of serenity and patience to situations we never thought we could be serene or patient with.

Even after many years in recovery we can sometimes forget to keep it simple. We get into a routine and maybe something disrupts this routine, our minds automatically go to complicated. Yet, all we need to do is look back on how crazy our lives used to be and we remember to keep it simple and things get a tiny bit easier!

The First Three Steps

The first three steps of the AA/NA program is the base of our recovery from alcohol and drugs. In the first step we have to concede to our innermost selves that we can not use alcohol and drugs in any form at all. The second half of the step tells us that while using drugs and alcohol that our lives are unmanageable. If our lives can't be manaaged by us then we have to find something else to manage it.

That is where the second step flows right in. When we look around the rooms, we see hundreds of people that have changed their lives. These people have come to believe that a power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity. The only thing this step asks is that power not be ourselves.

In the third step we turn our lives over to that power. That sometimes brings on a little confusion. The easiest way of knowing if we have gone through the third step is by asking ourselves if we are ready to continue on with the other nine steps. If we can we have gone through the step.

The twelve step programs are practiced as a way of life. With that said, we need to do these things on a day to day basis. When you do, your life improves dramatically.

Compassion, Love and Tolerance

No one is perfect whether it be emotionally, physically or spiritually. Sometimes we watch the way people act or hear the way they speak and we get irritated. Someone doesn't do something our way and we are annoyed. Yet, if we could just remind ourselves a little more that no one is perfect even if we or they are in recovery. We and other people are not always going to do the right thing but if we are tolerant of ourselves and others we can learn compassion and love at its very core.

The saying that we should treat people we want to be treated holds true in every aspect of our lives. We have a responsibility as a human being to try to live this every single day. Treat others with compassion, love and tolerance, even if they don't treat you the same. It will open your mind and your heart in ways you can't imagine!

Clearbrook- A Pennsylvania Drug Treatment Center

It's never an easy thing to admit that you need help. We've all been raised to be self-sufficient and tough it out, and for too many people, this attitude carries over when they're trying to break the grip of a drug addiction or chemical dependency. The problem is that it's often this very attitude, the idea of self-medicating, that fosters and enables chemical dependency in the first place. Chemical dependency and addiction is not an easy problem to fight. It's not a character failure. It's an illness, and like any other illness, it requires the right treatment to get it under control. Whether you're fighting a battle with alcohol, prescription painkillers or another drug, Clearbrook Treatment Centers have the capacity to help you get sober and change your life for the better.

How Drug Rehab Helps You

Chemical dependency has many components, some of them physical, some environmental and some emotional. When you try to break a drug habit by simply not using, you're only attacking your problem from one angle, and it can be a dangerous angle to take. The professionals at Clearbrook understand the complex nature of addiction and dependency, and use a multi-pronged approach to helping you get clean and stay clean.

Service Work

Some of us have always had it in our nature to want to help others but when we were using we were always too consumed by ourselves that helping others was simply a passing thought. It wasn't until we got sober that it became more real that we could actually help other people.

In the beginning of recovery it could be something as simple as opening the door for someone. Just paying attention to those things is a drastic change from when we were using. We know we were selfish and self-centered. That is why it is such a great gift that we can help other people. Even helping outside of A.A./N.A. is such a wonderful thing. For example, volunteering at a soup kitchen, a local church or temple, etc. Anything that is giving of yourself freely can impact a life. Try it! It can be one of the most rewarding things!

The Four Horseman....Keeping them at Bay

The literature of AA talks about the "hideous four horseman, terror, bewilderment, frustration, and despair. As people that are in recovery we know these feelings all too well. In our minds, while using and drinking, the only way to make these feelings go away was to have another hit or drink. It temporarily solved our problems of our minds. The problem is that "the problems" only got worse for us.

Many people speak of the moment of clarity they had. They came to the realization that another hit or drink was only driving them deeper into the horrible feelings. We then realize that there is a permanent solution so long as we do some daily work. We find powers that are greater than us to help us find that solution.

Feeling Stuck

When we are using there are many times that we've felt stuck. Some of us felt that there was no other way than the way we were living our lives but we knew it wasn't right. We didn't know of any other way to live because we had been using so much for so long. We felt stuck because we truly didn't know how to move forward in this part of our life.

Then something happened for us. Something in our lives pushed us toward treatment and/or A.A./N.A. It opened our minds. It may have taken a while but it truly opened our minds and we didn't feel stuck. We felt a bit of freedom because we saw through our actions and others actions that we don't have to be stuck. We don't have to live our lives using. We could have a life in recovery. It truly was and is possible! What a gift!

Once we embrace the 12 Steps and others in the program we can truly be free and live a life drug and alcohol free and we can move forward!