Or, perhaps you attend AA or NA, but you are looking for something more, a way to go beyond the ideas of 12 step recovery and the path of spiritual growth.

I believe there is a better path than one that is limited to only spiritual growth, it is a path of holistic growth.

Get sober, quickly and effectively

Whatever your situation is, I believe that anyone can get clean and sober without structured programs and daily meetings if they follow some basic ideas and principles.  Many of these overlap with principles from other recovery programs; that is pretty much inevitable.

For example, you have to surrender in order to embrace recovery and use complete abstinence as your solution.  The principle of “surrender” is fundamental.  No recovery program owns it.  Anyone who quits drinking or using drugs has to surrender.  This was true 1,000 years ago, long before AA came along….just as it is true today.  Surrender is fundamental.

If you look at various recovery programs they all share common themes.  The 12 step program, religious programs, therapy based programs–they all have some things in common that seem to be fundamental to recovery.  Surrender and abstinence is one such example.  But there are other examples as well, such as the need for personal growth in long term recovery, or the need for social support in early recovery, and so on.

All of these ideas are neatly laid out in the alternative recovery course.  Each article is accompanied by a video as well:

* Recovery starts with a decision to change your life

* Total abstinence and the zero tolerance policy

* Do you need addiction treatment or detox?

* Using support in early recovery

* Taking daily positive action

You can find more details about how you might recovery in a non-traditional manner right here.

In addition, you might also want to take a look at the following free eBooks:

Finally, if you like any of the ideas contained here, then you might want to join the discussion in the forums here at Spiritual River, where you can get daily support and feedback from real people who are learning how to live clean and sober.

Recommended Reading

• Overcoming Addiction
• Holistic Addiction Treatment Center

What kind of action?

Positive action.  You need to do things that improve your life or help you to grow as a person.

I would start by looking at each area of your life, and look for potential goals you can set.  For example, I personally did the following things to push myself to grow in my recovery:

* Got a job.

* Went back to college, finished my degree.

* Started exercising on a regular basis, running 4 times per week.

* Quit smoking cigarettes.  This was HUGE for me.  A big part of my recovery.

* Got another job, one that was more meaningful and challenging for me.

* Started this website, promoted it, tried to foster community here.

* Got yet another job, even more challenging this time, in teaching others.

Now these were all fairly big goals and accomplishments for me, and they did not all happen at once.  In fact this is really a progression over the last ten years or more.

But I think the critical thing is this, and really speaks to how my recovery works and how I try to grow and make progress:

I try to make progress on goals like these every single day.  I do not “take a day off” and stop working towards these types of goals.  Ever.

Now that might sound a little simplistic but you have to realize that there is a powerful multiplier in there.

The day.

Each day is an opportunity.  Each day is a gift.

And we get so many of them!  Think about a year, that is a really long time if you measure it out in days.  Over 300 of them!  Think of how much you can accomplish if you work at the same thing every single day!

This is what makes recovery exciting for me.  This is also what makes personal growth exciting for me.

For example, ask yourself: “Do I have a goal that is very important to me in my life?”

Then ask yourself: “Would it be possible for me to make progress on that goal each and every day?”

You should be able to answer “yes” to both of those questions.  If you can’t, then you can probably do a bit of introspective work and figure out what your big goals are in your life.

Once you have some clear direction, and know what you want out of life, then it is time to get to work.  Get busy.  You have time and energy in your recovery.  If you stopped using drugs and alcohol then I know for a fact that you have extra time and extra energy to burn.  That is the gift of recovery.  What drugs and alcohol stole from you is now recovered.  You are given your life back.

Now, do something with it!

Something positive.  Really, this is the whole essence of recovery.  You are free, you have been given a gift of freedom, and now you have to use that gift if you are going to remain free from your drug of choice.

If you neglect the gift that you get in recovery then you will get bored, irritable, and frustrated with life, and eventually relapse.

It takes work, effort, and thought to avoid this fate.  It takes energy and daily positive action on your part.

Each person has a gift for the world and when they started using drugs or alcohol they got derailed from their mission in life.  They were on a path to greatness and addiction sought to destroy that path.  Now that you are in recovery you have to get back on that path and push yourself to do great things.  If you do not rise to this challenge then you could easily end up relapsing out of sheer boredom.

You were meant to do something positive with your life.  Don’t just get sober and sit idle.  Go make something happen.  What are your dreams?  What do you aspire to do?

Who do you most want to help in the world?  Who does your heart go out to the most?

Go help them!  Go make positive changes.

Make a life of it!  Your recovery depends on it.

Recommended Reading

• Overcoming Addiction
• Holistic Addiction Treatment Center

That said, I personally do not rely on 12 step meetings for my recovery anymore.  During my first two years of recovery, I was going to regular meetings, but I was also living in long term treatment.  Living in rehab was actually a bigger source of support than the meetings were, in my opinion.  I was also seeing a therapist on a regular basis while living in treatment.

That was the first 20 months of my recovery.  After that, however, I moved out of rehab, stopped going to meetings, and since then I have relied on a program of personal growth and positive action.  My last 8+ years of recovery have not involved meetings or therapy.

If I had to do it all over again, I still believe that I would need some form of support in early recovery.  There is value in the idea of fellowship.  There is value in being able to identify with others in early recovery.  There is value in not having to go it alone.

I do not know for sure that long term rehab and 12 step meetings are the only valid form of support.  I believe there are other forms of support that you can get in early recovery.  I just happen to have lived in long term rehab and so that was what was required of me.

For example, you might do well to get support from:

* A church that you are involved with.

* An informal group of people who are trying to get clean and sober with you.

* An online recovery forum where people are trying to recover.

* A group of people that you exercise with or work out with.

* A supportive friend or family member who is also in recovery.

And so on.

If you have never been in recovery before, there is huge value in the idea of identification.  What is this and why is it important?

We need identification in early recovery so that we know that we are not crazy.  Seriously, it is actually very important to get this reassurance.

The problem in early recovery is that the recovering addict or alcoholic will believe that they are unique.  They are so wrapped up in their own drama and in their own little world that they do not believe anyone else could ever understand or possibly relate to them.

This is the main point of 12 step meetings.  People tell stories and talk about their recovery process, and the newcomer can listen and start to understand that they are not crazy, they are not unique, that there are other people out there who are trying to stop drinking who have been through the same issues that they have.

This validation and identification process seems to be very important in early recovery, and you can not get this from someone unless they have “been where you are at.”  That is why people in recovery can help each other so effectively…..because they can relate to each other.

And this process is going to prove to be important for most people in early recovery.  So if you choose not to go the 12 step route, you probably need to find someone in recovery who can talk to you and help assure you that you are not crazy.  Identification is important.  Validation is important.

If you are in early recovery, then you probably need some form of support from someone who is in recovery.  If you cannot find that anywhere else, I would suggest that you try 12 step meetings.

If you are dead set against 12 step programs, I would suggest that you seek help and support in an online recovery forum, and then start taking positive action in your life while abstaining entirely from drugs and alcohol.

Recommended Reading

• Overcoming Addiction
• Holistic Addiction Treatment Center