32 Principles for Recovery: Wisdom to Light the Pathway for Recovery

By Rick McNeil

This is a self-help book intended to bring awareness to individuals who may be struggling with addiction to drugs/alcohol

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543965513

Book preview

32

Principle 1

You cannot change your life until you change your lifestyle.

It is amazing how people will say they want to change their life but make no effort to change their LIFESTYLE. Sobriety requires drastic changes in your lifestyle. One of the most prevalent sayings in NA & AA meetings (Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous) is, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. You must find a way to break the cycle of repetitive destruction. Lifestyle change requires a complete overhaul of your thinking process by renewing your mind as described in Romans 12:1, which literally means to change the way that you think and process information. Especially, when your current thought process is self-willed, dissolute, and undisciplined.

You should carefully consider your environment, and separate yourself from the people, places, and things in your life that are a hindrance to your recovery. There are places that you must stop going to, people that you should no longer hang with or be around, and things you need to leave behind, including emotional baggage, such as past regrets and resentments. You must also surround yourself with healthy-minded people who maintain a positive and sober lifestyle. Establish connections with those who already live the kind of life that you want for yourself. Make yourself accountable to a select few, who can give you wise counsel and correction when needed. As much as you may try to convince yourself that you cannot find such people, perhaps you have not been searching in the right places. These people can be found in AA and NA meetings, churches and community organizations. Even if you don’t practice any particular religion, you can still find wise counsel and encouragement at a church and within a recovery group.

Don’t expect change to be easy, because it isn’t. There is no panacea nor magic bullet. You can expect change to be a hard, grueling process. Robin Sharma said that "All change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and so beautiful in the end." Being connected to a strong support system helps to minimize the pain and hardship of change.

Principle 2

You can judge a man by the company he keeps.

Take a good look at who you spend time with and what kind of influence they may have on you. When addiction is active in your life, there is a tendency to always make time for those who are a bad influence, but you never seem to find time for those who are a positive influence to be around. The company you keep shows