Everyone has issues, including you, and you’re becoming more willing to learn about addiction and recovery.
Overview
This “Life Improvement Tool Kit” will help you learn about the exciting world of recovery so you can determine how it can benefit you and people you know.
You may be hurting now and feeling trapped and alone in your struggles, but it doesn’t have to be that way! In only 45 minutes or reading and thinking, you can take the next right step to a new life.
First, get a piece of paper or open a file to take notes as you go through this kit.
Next, take the Assessment immediately below to help you evaluate what you know and how much you care about addiction and recovery.
Then, go through the 5 lessons which follow. Watch the initial video, and read the articles referenced in the other lessons. Some key points will be captured for you below, but think about what elements seem most important to you and capture those notes.
At the end, create a plan for what you should do about it. Now, take the next step!
Assessment
Start by taking an assessment to help you learn more about addiction and recovery:
1. From 1-to-10 (10 being High), how much do you understand about the progression and prevention of addiction?
2. From 1-to-10, how familiar are you with what a lifestyle of recovery is like?
3. If the progression into addiction often happens in a series of recognizable steps, what opportunity does that present to prevent addiction in some cases?
4. Do you have a stigma about people struggling with addiction, and do you think feeling that way could be harmful to others?
5. How rewarding would it be for you to help someone you know move past addiction into a lifestyle of recovery?
Lesson 1. The Lifestyle of Recovery
Take the first step by watching this 5-minute video.
If you like, you can also read that same article.
Most people reading this article have no personal experience of what I’m talking about. They haven’t learned the secret that anyone can benefit from a lifestyle of recovery.
Recovery meetings are one of the safest and most comfortable places I know. Much of what is said offers wisdom for living life well. Because recovery is about much more that addiction—it is a lifestyle!
Many of life’s important lessons are captured in the principles of recovery. You can transform your life and find more peace, joy, and purpose if you give them a try. Your world doesn’t have to come apart, because these concepts are relevant and useful for everyone!
It’s all part of the lifestyle of recovery that I wish each of you could experience. You would likely enjoy it, you would certainly get a lot out of it, and it might change your life.
Lesson 2. What is Addiction?
Take the next step by reading this article.
Addiction is when we keep doing things even though they have negative consequences, and we find ourselves unable to stop that harmful behavior.
Addiction and compulsive behavior do not just affect ‘those other people.’ They are part of all of our lives, one way or the other, and the first step is to accept that fact. Are we all addicted to something? To some degree, yes.
Spiritually, an ‘idol’ is anything we turn to instead of God to deal with the ups and downs in life. When we find something that feels good, we keep doing it, and it can become an idol.
We all have compulsive habits that affect our lives. But our condition is treatable if we choose the right life improvement steps to take.
Lesson 3. The Behaviors of Addiction and Recovery
Take the next step by reading this article.
There is often a predictable progression into addiction in a series of steps: Thoughts lead to Considerations to Attitudes to Actions to Addiction.
We can reverse this progression in behaviors to lead us to recovery instead:
1. Addiction –In the midst of our powerlessness, we accept that our life is out of control. We Surrender to God, and begin to make wise choices again.
2. Actions –A gradual increase in self-awareness helps us face our issues and mistakes as we begin to take steps down a road of positive
3. Attitudes – We begin to choose forgiveness and Empathy in our dealings with others and actively work to build positive relationships.
4. Considerations – By taking proactive and intentional steps of Progress, we rebuild good habits and spiritual disciplines into our daily routines.
5. Thoughts –As a result of our positive behaviors and God’s grace, we replace our absorption with ‘self’ with thankfulness that leads to Service for others.
Lesson 4. Dealing with the Stigma of Addiction
Take the next step by reading this article.
There are tens of millions of people struggling with addiction in our country, and 90% of them will never seek help. The stigma of addiction is a big part of that problem.
This stigma makes it harder for people to acknowledge their problem, seek help, or maintain their recovery. Therefore, many of them suffer in isolation for years, and some die from the disease.
If this stigma affects you, know that these things are true: you are not broken; you can recover; and you are not alone.
If you perpetuate the stigma now, you should strive to see those who are struggling as people. Listen to them while withholding judgment, and treat them with dignity and respect.
Lesson 5. Life After Alcohol
Take the final step in this process by reading this article.
If you are an alcoholic, you do not have to hit bottom to stop. You can courageously face the personal, emotional, and spiritual consequences you are creating, even if not yet catastrophic, and use them as a catalyst to change your life.
It is an awesome discovery for some that we can live life without the crutch of a substance to solve our problems for us. We can be real, and we can live life that way.
For me, life after alcohol took a little getting used to. But the advantages of my new way of living grew, and grew, and grew. Now, I gratefully enjoy those benefits every day of my life.
That was my journey, and things happen for a reason. God was graceful enough to use recovery to transform me, and that led to the ministry which will make up the next phase of my life.
Create a Plan
Now, make some plans about what this material means to you.
1. What are you willing to do to learn more about addiction, prevention, and recovery?
2. What is a negative habit you had where there was a gradual progression in a negative direction?
3. What next steps should you take to help you better deal with that habit or keep it from coming back?
3. Create a list of people you feel may have compulsive issues that are troubling them, in some cases addiction.
5. If it would be helpful to someone, would you go to a recovery meeting with them?
Get Started
Take the next right step!
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