Hi my name is\u00a0 (_________) and I am an addict, alcoholic, compulsive gambler, sex addict, risk taker, over-eater.\u00a0 These words are repeated daily by millions of people in recovery.\u00a0 The reason given for saying these things lies in the belief that those who forget are doomed to repeat.\u00a0 This is decent logic, but is there a better way to achieve the same result?\u00a0 And when I say better I mean, more effective. \u00a0After all, isn\u2019t effectiveness the goal of all that we do in life?<\/p>\n
Life is all about the effects.\u00a0 Our thoughts, words and actions, are the process that we use to create the effects which we desire to experience in our lives.\u00a0 Not very many people would ever admit to striving for mediocrity, although behaviors may indicate otherwise.\u00a0 Most people wish for and strive for higher and higher effectiveness in their daily lives.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to call into question the logic of placing a derogatory statement about ourselves behind the two most powerful words in the human language.\u00a0 If those of us in recovery are seeking to remain abstinent from the substances and behaviors that we found ourselves unable to control, wouldn\u2019t it stand to reason that we may want to make a more positive and empowering statement about who we are?<\/p>\n
In the world of recovery there is most important thing is of course personal sobriety.\u00a0 In order to achieve and maintain long term sobriety a person either needs to be extremely determined not to use under any circumstances or create a life that is so grand that using would never even be an option.\u00a0 I recommend the second choice there if you are wondering.\u00a0 The first option is called abstinence or as the old timers would call it, \u201cdry drunk.\u201d\u00a0 The second option is called sobriety.<\/p>\n
You may ask, what is the difference between abstinence and sobriety?\u00a0 That is a very good question.\u00a0 Abstinence is simply taking away the substance like alcohol or drugs and doing nothing at all about the underlying conditions that created the issues in the first place.<\/p>\n
Sobriety is a daily practice of self awareness and self improvement.\u00a0 Persons who take on the role of raising their consciousness about themselves and their surroundings often find themselves to be happy and fulfilled, as well as inspiring to others.\u00a0 Sobriety in this form is very contagious and people flock to you to share in the energy.<\/p>\n
Many words have negative energy as well as negative connotations surrounding them.\u00a0 Words like, junky, crackhead, drunkard, lush, addict, alcoholic etc, not only have a darkening effect on the user but also projects out that same dark energy to surrounding ears.\u00a0 Place the words \u201cI am\u201d right before them and we are actually summoning that definition to our reality.<\/p>\n
There is a recovery film out now called \u201cThe Anonymous People.\u201d\u00a0 If you get an opportunity to watch this please do.\u00a0 In this documentary the political history of the 12 step programs is investigated deeply.\u00a0 Many people have lobbied our politicians to find more funding for recovery programs and addiction treatment facilities. Currently the political answer to addiction is incarceration. Because we can all see how well the prison system is reforming people (sarcasm.)<\/p>\n
So the question then becomes how is that one of the greatest public health threats, addiction, isn\u2019t treated as a healthcare issue?\u00a0 One possible answer lies with the image of those of us in recovery.\u00a0 When a person who is not in recovery hears one of us introduce our self as, \u201cHi, I\u2019m Kevin, and I am a drug addict.\u201d\u00a0 They see a person with a moral deficiency.<\/p>\n
The same \u201cnormal\u201d person responds differently when I introduce myself in a more positive light.\u00a0 Hi, my name is Kevin McCormack.\u00a0 I am a person in long term recovery from the disease of addiction.\u00a0 For me long term means almost 27 years of continuous sobriety.\u00a0 In those 27 years I have experienced great things in my life such as a long term job of 20 plus years, continued education, but most of all the respect of my family, friends and self.<\/p>\n
This type of shift in our language not only sheds light on the positive in our life which keeps our mind on what is most important, but it also brings about a certain level of respect and admiration from those who do not fully understand the disease of addiction.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, personal recovery is goal number one, however, the twelve steps is very clear that \u201cwe cannot keep what we have without giving it away.\u201d\u00a0 How can we give it away if we are hidden away in the basement of a church surrounded by those who have already found it?<\/p>\n
Humanity would be well served if we took the anonymity of ourselves a little less literally.\u00a0 By all means I am not saying we should disclose someone else\u2019s participation in recovery.\u00a0 But it serves very little good to keep who we are secret.\u00a0 It is time to stand together and raise the awareness of those in need.\u00a0 Recovery is possible. A happy, productive life is at your finger tips.\u00a0 Come walk with us, people in long term recovery who wish to help others achieve the same.<\/p>\n
(Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional and Recovery Advocate. \u00a0He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, recovery coach, and interventionist\u00a0specializing\u00a0in individual and family recovery. \u00a0Kevin has a passion for holistic living, personal awareness training, and physical meditation. You can visit his website<\/i>\u00a0Life<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0After Addicton<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more information.<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>To connect with Kevin, please email him at\u00a0<\/i>Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span>)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hi my name is\u00a0 (_________) and I am an addict, alcoholic, compulsive gambler, sex addict, risk taker, over-eater.\u00a0 These words are repeated daily by millions of people in recovery.\u00a0 The reason given for saying these things lies in the belief that those who forget are doomed to repeat.\u00a0 This is decent logic, but is there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[911,196,1722,4,1724,1720,355,195,1721,459,1368,1723,1719,718],"class_list":["post-8315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction-and-recovery","tag-12-steps","tag-aa","tag-anonymous-programs","tag-conversations-with-god","tag-gamblers-anonymous","tag-greg-williams","tag-i-am","tag-kevin-mccormack","tag-many-faces-one-voice","tag-na","tag-oa","tag-over-eaters-anonymous","tag-the-anonymous-people","tag-twelve-steps"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8315"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8317,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8315\/revisions\/8317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}