ADDICTIONS

Sept 6, from “Strengthening My Recovery” daily reader

“Many adult children find ACA and begin recovery.  A few seem to do well only to act out in addictions such as drugs, alcohol, food, gambling or compulsive spending.”  BRB p. 69

“When we started attending ACA meetings, we may have heard words that triggered pain and confusion and hope, a baffling mix of emotions. After living a numbed-out life for so long, this new chaos inside felt threatening to many of us.

It may have been hard for us to listen to others speak; the pain it provoked seemed too much to bear. Soon, perhaps we couldn’t find time for meetings. Maybe we turned to an old “friend” like alcohol, food, drugs, TV or another numbing behavior to quiet the stirred-up thoughts and feelings. But something had changed: “using” didn’t feel the same because we now knew there was a better way.

Confused and alone, we returned to a meeting. We admitted we were having trouble just sitting still and listening because we were feeling so much, and feeling was scary. Our friends told us we were not alone, and that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better. They promised that if we kept coming back, sharing, listening, and working the program, it would get better.

They were right! With our Higher Power to guide us, we find “inside” answers when we begin to trust ourselves and our inner loving parent. We finally learn to comfort our Inner Child.

On this day if things get difficult, I will sit down, breathe, and reach for the strength and wisdom of the program.  I will remember I am not alone.”

My experience:

This is scary.  I think this is how I experienced it.  There was so much coming my way that I tried to numb this new pain.  Things were being said and being brought up that I had no way of dealing with.  So into my shell I went.  Food (specifically sugar), television, and anything else I could “use” to keep me numb.  But as I kept coming back, those things seemed to help less and less.  I experienced and processed the pain with the help of the program, by hearing others speak, by listening to their healing, and really appreciating when someone said, “when they came into the rooms of recovery they did not come in on a winning streak.”  The went on to say, “but today, because of this program, they now live a life beyond their wildest dreams.”  The struggle is real, but the benefits of the outcome is just as real.  I hope you join us!