Recovery Chronicles: Rediscovering Purpose

Starting any new journey can seem overwhelming when you begin, and this is especially true when somebody is just starting on their journey in Recovery from substance use. Many new in Recovery are still trying to make sense of all the overwhelming sensations and potential issues and challenges they have to face right away, not to mention the actual process of removing the substance from their body and potentially dealing with withdrawal management, better known as detox.

I will provide a framework from a program that we will be launching shortly, regarded as “Mastering Your Journey: A Holistic Approach to Personal Growth,” designed to give anybody looking to make a new change in their life a start. The five pillars that represent these units are what we will be discussing over the next five weeks. Today's pillar discusses the beginning of a new person and Recovery; again, this can be anything from addiction to any personal challenges that anyone is facing because the truth is that behavioral health crosses over all of the human condition. You don't need a drug or alcohol addiction to have challenges.

So, the first step in starting a new journey is to define your PURPOSE. This is the first pillar of the five pieces. To break this down, one of the first requirements is that whoever starts this new journey must get brutally honest with themselves to look within and not hide or discard anything, even if it is uncomfortable. Remember that growth comes from discomfort, just like the metaphor of building muscle and pushing weight; you continue to push the weight until fatigue sets, where the muscle fiber breaks, only to grow back twice as strong two days later.

Once we have become honest with ourselves, starting this journey, here's where we can begin to reflect on our values, beliefs, and principles. Now, if you're new in Recovery from addiction, it's essential to understand that some of these values and beliefs will change due to this new journey, which is a primary purpose of Recovery. For example, you could have incorporated dishonesty into your recent behaviors as you were active with an addiction, but that was not characteristically a part of who you are. So, you will be moving that value from dishonesty to honesty. Once you understand values, it's essential to understand your beliefs around those values because beliefs are indeed the fuel that motivates us. If you believe that you can do something, you are correct. You will be able to do it; if you think you cannot, you are also correct. You will not be able to do it. Self-talk is powerful and wondrous, and it's essential to understand that we talk to ourselves in a supportive and reinforcing manner.

Following the works of Doctor Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, whom I have great admiration for. He took 1,000 years’ worth of personal development and leadership and condensed it down into these seven constructs of habits. He refers to this value system as our personal constitution, and I personally like that idea because it represents us writing our own story from the inside out. Now that you have to find your beliefs and the values that are important to you, you will find the principles that will guide you through this, and principles such as integrity, honesty, humility, governance, and so on will be your new pillars as you define your purpose.

One of the following and most significant ways to define purpose is now to reflect on your different roles in your life. You may be a father, a husband, a brother, a sister, a wife, a significant other, a daughter, or an employee; you could be an employer. You may have a role in your community, your relationships, and friendships, and of course, you have an essential role in yourself, including your body, mind, heart, and spirit. Each of these roles has a specific purpose. Though many may overlap, there are particular characteristics to each; for instance, my role as a husband differs from my role as a father, but there are crossovers and similarities. Once you have defined your roles, you have your goals, and here's where the journey begins, and this first pillar of defining your purpose. If you're interested in learning more about our program that will be launched in the next few weeks, please see the link below & up for the waitlist. You will be given weekly updates regarding the content and some teaser materials that will help you gain insight into how powerful this course can be to anyone looking to make a change in their life, small or significant. Wishing you peace and serenity on your journey today, Bernie.