What if just like we overlearn addiction, we can overlearn recovery? If I overlearned to believe that wine was my answer to every uncomfortable thing, isn’t it possible that I could overlearn to believe that every uncomfortable thing I have to face now that I don’t drink is a potential trigger to start drinking again? Therefore my recovery is the answer to everything? But it’s also like a thinly veiled threat that one false move and I could tumble all the way back to where I was in the depths of addiction?
To be clear, I could not have had this discussion during my first year of recovery from alcohol addiction. So if discussing the idea that what is commonly referred to as “recovery” could have an end point threatens your current sobriety in any way, please opt out of this one.
I’m closing in on two years of sobriety; I went through extensive addiction recovery therapy for a year, I quit my corporate job and now work for myself. I also research addiction and recovery as part of my work in the world, which is only to say that I am immersed in this field not only as someone who overcame addiction to alcohol but also as someone who is dedicated to understanding the deeper inner workings of the human body, brain, psyche, and spirit when it comes to tangling with addiction and recovery. I am, in many ways, living a very out-of-the-ordinary life. It is a privilege, a passion, and a gift. And it means I see things a bit differently, maybe, than most.
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