The recovery from drugs and alcohol isn’t an easy process. It’s one of the most difficult tasks that you can ever do in your life. You feel the strength of being clean coursing through your body. You see the changes in your life. But, without family support, you feel the fight has been significantly harder. At times, you have felt lost, alone, and completely overwhelmed, and the one set of people who should have supported you and been there for you, but they were not. It’s easy for those feelings of abandonment to turn to resentment. In such cases, positive psychology plays an important role to help you understand the situation clearly.
At moments like this, it’s important to turn your focus from anger and irritation to acceptance and understanding. You do not have to agree with your family’s choices. In fact, in most cases, you probably do not and will not. However, you also have to recognize they have probably not agreed with many of your choices as well. True recovery and healing are introspective commitments. To stay clean, you need to take a deep, hard look at your own life and identify not only the triggers which led to your addiction but the consequences of your addiction. Acknowledge that your addiction did not just have an impact on your life; it was a huge force in your family’s life as well. Promises were broken; trust was lost. Your family may have been terrified at the life your addiction created for them and you. Whatever the case, seek to understand their concerns instead of simply being angry at them.
Forgiveness is crucial. God’s grace and love are unconditional; however, He requires us to strive to live a Holy life, and forgiveness is a part of that. You do not forgive when someone asks for it; you do not forgive when you feel they are sorry enough. You forgive because God forgives you. Now, with this forgiveness does not come an automatic forgetting. It will take time to repair the damage your addiction has caused your family, and it’ll take time to rebuild the bridge your family’s lack of support created for you. That is okay. Instead of expecting them to see the changed person you have become, show them.
When the isolation from your family is overwhelming, when you feel the pressure of it closing in around you, it’s essential to remember that you’re never truly alone. God has been with you every step along the way of your recovery, and He’ll continue to be. The glorious reality of your relationship with Him is the promise to never forsake you. When friends and family turn their back on you or abandon you when you need them most, God will never o such a thing. Recovery is a slow and painful process, but it’ll be healing. Staying sober is the most important thing right now. Just remember you have chosen solid ground. If you’re ready and honest in your prayers, He’ll never turn away from you, and you’ll never be alone.
