I’m not sure if most people are clinically depressed when first getting sober or if they are just naturally feeling defeated. Most of us are not on top of the world when we finally surrender and decide that we really don’t know how to live.
Given that, early recovery can be a bit depressing, or at least feel that way.
The creative approach to recovery addresses this, however, with the idea that we can counter these negative feelings by taking certain actions. Here is how the creative theory can boost your energy level:
Find your passion
When I first got clean and sober I was not jumping out of bed each day with excitement. Eventually I did get to this point, but it took several months of sobriety before I was actually excited about each day and looking forward to it.
Part of this is due to the lack of passion for anything when you first get clean. This naturally occurs because our lives were previously consumed with passion for the drugs and the alcohol, and suddenly that has been stripped away.
Successful recovery = passionate living. There will always be the temptation to return to our love of drugs and alcohol, so what are you going to replace that desire with? You have to create something new and special in your life to take the place of it. Consider the following examples:
1) The recovering addict who becomes deeply involved in 12 step fellowships and sponsorship.
2) The recovering addict who goes back to school to become a therapist to help other addicts.
3) The recovering addict who finally achieves their dream of becoming a veterinarian (or a musician, or a teacher, etc.).
Get the idea? It’s about finding your passion in life. Without doing this, you run the risk of returning to the passion you had for drugs and alcohol. Walking through life like a zombie is not very fulfilling.
Regain purpose for helping and connecting with others
Passion and purpose are closely tied together. But it’s important too that you find purpose in recovery. Why purpose? So that your efforts in life are meaningful. It helps to know that you are making a difference.
This is about self esteem, too. Self esteem is so important that we could actually frame our entire concept of recovery just on the idea of building self esteem (in fact, the creative theory seeks to do just that).
So when you find your passion hopefully it involves some level of purpose for you in a way that can benefit others. Notice in the 3 examples above that the recovering addicts find their passion through meaningful activities. They are connecting with others. Purpose is about relationships and how we help others to grow.
What is your gift to the world? How can you empower others? Find the answer to that and start living it. That is how to regain passion and purpose in your life.
Now getting back to early recovery….finding your passion might not happen overnight. It might take some time. The thing to do is hang on through the transitional period and keep on practicing the strategies of the creative theory. Doing so will eventually start to pay dividends:
1) Care for yourself, in every way possible. Your health and well being is priority number one.
2) Push yourself to grow, in many different areas. Holistic growth is the key. Don’t limit yourself to spiritual growth. Go beyond that.
3) Network with others, in meaningful ways. In early recovery it’s suggested that you build a network of recovering people.
Holistic approach will demand physical exercise
Now another part of the puzzle here is that if you practice the creative theory and actually use a holistic approach to growth, then you are going to be doing some physical exercise. It is unavoidable and it’s much more important than most people give it credit for.
I have found that nearly everyone underestimates the power of regular exercise. The more depressed you are in early recovery, the more important this idea becomes. If you exercise vigorously just 3 times a week, this will make a huge difference in how you feel on a day-to-day basis.
Of course not everyone is going to be a world class athlete but that’s not what this is about. If you can move your body with some form of exercise, and force yourself to do it on a regular basis, then you will feel tremendously better. And what better time to start such a habit then in early recovery, when it will have the most impact?
Synergy effect from holistic growth = higher energy level
If you take most of the suggestions in this article and put them to use, you’ll get some outstanding results that are greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, if you fully embrace the creative theory and start applying all of the strategies simultaneously, you’ll get much better results than if you just pick and choose what you think will work for you.
The reason for this is because your self esteem will be more complete. You’ll get some from your physical exercise, some from networking with others, and some from pushing yourself to grow in different ways. This is what makes the holistic approach so powerful – it builds a more complete and solid recovery than a single-strategy approach (such as a spiritual program).
Do yourself a favor and think holistically.
Recommended Reading
- Overcoming Addiction
- Addiction Recovery is about Discovering New Layers of Information
- 5 Ways to Supercharge Your Recovery, Avoid Relapse, and Dominate Your Addiction Over the Holiday Season
- 10 Ways to Embrace Creative Recovery and Take Your Sobriety to the Next Level
- Holistic Addiction Treatment Center
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Patrick,
This is a great post. I agree that exercise can make a huge difference which has an extremely positive effect. Just getting outside into the fresh air or moving the body with some effort can transform your mood from one of negativity to a more positive state of mind. I plan exercise into my schedule each day and then I make sure that I do not allow myself to think about it too much. I ‘JUST DO IT’. Otherwise, I can talk myself out of it before I have even changed into my work out gear.
I have a question am I would welcome your answer and opinions. This is not an easy one to narrate so I will do my best and hope that it is clear. I have been sober for six months after spending the last 17 years drinking. After the initial phase of determination and will power I moved into another phase. My mind would present memories of certain periods throughout my life that I hadn’t given much thought to in a long time. Some of this was difficult but I now see that it was necessary for me rehash and learn from in order to move forward. The stage that I seem to be in now is one of recognizing some of the psychological issues that I have masked up over the years. It sounds scary to write that but it is true. To try and explain further, an example would be that how I have recognized that the insecurity and low self esteem that I have can cause anger and jealousy. The difference between recognizing these episodes now and when I was drinking is that now I am trying to learn, understand and work through them. Whereas for the past 17 years I have morphed all my feelings with a huge amount of alcohol and never actually faced up to and dealt with everything. Is there some kind of guide of guideline/timeline of the different phases you go through mentally after getting sober? I am not in AA but I wonder if your response will be something of the twelve step process. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.
I also want to add that although this is unbelievably difficult at times, I really feel like I am on an incredible journey of self discovery that seems like this is what life is really all about. It is amazing how numb alcohol makes you in every way and I am thankful that I am learning to really feel and live again.
Thanks!
Madison
Well hello there Madison, so good to talk with you again, and thank you so much for sharing that here!
First of all I think it is awesome that you even have this level of awareness that you do about your thoughts, feelings, and psychological issues. This awareness is a big step in the right direction because so many people would not necessarily confront these truths within themselves, even in recovery.
Yes you are right that the 12 step program does have a system for working through this stuff that you have bottled up. Essentially you would get it all down on paper while writing out a fourth step and then share it with a trusted sponsor in your fifth step. That is the start of the healing process and then from there you go on to identify your character defects and work to remove them and so on and so forth.
Now of course the 12 step program is just one path in recovery, and I usually advocate other paths as being just as strong and sometimes even more powerful for people. The 12 step program is not the best fit for everyone and there are other ways to work through the kinds of issues you are talking about.
Essentially I see 2 options for you: one is to attempt to work through your issues by yourself. Most in recovery would advise against this I think, but if you start journaling daily about it and really get honest with yourself and start digging for answers then this might work out for you.
The more popular alternative is to ask for help. This could be through any number of different people…family, friends, professionals, recovery coaches, therapists, clergy, and so on.
A big part of recovery that is almost never addressed in traditional programs is that we have to learn how to communicate our feelings with others. This sounds too simple to be useful. It’s incredibly important though. If someone makes you angry, and you are able to rationally confront that person and honestly communicate your anger in a healthy way, then this is like a ticket to sobriety.
Those who relapse tend to do it over bottled up emotions and if we can learn how to communicate those emotions then we are on a path of healing. That is how we keep a clean slate in recovery and prevent resentment from taking over. I’m not sure if that all pertains to your situation Madison but it seemed relevant enough to talk about it for a moment.
Feel your feelings. Let them come to you. Don’t deny them. If someone else caused them, communicate that directly to them without yelling and screaming. This has been a powerful tool in my recovery. Bottled up feelings drive us to drink.
Thanks again for your comment Madison and good luck.
Thanks Patrick.
I think I may take a look at the 12 steps, it seems as though I am heading down a similar path although I haven’t been going to AA or reading the books. I prefer the creative method that you speak about as opposed to the AA formula of meetings and sponsors, but obviously they have a wealth of knowledge from years of experience to help those who need it so that is definitely worth looking at.
You mention using a journal and that is something that I have done since the beginning of my sobriety. It has been a huge part of how I have stayed sober and has allowed me to recognize my strengths, faults and weaknesses. I wrote a post about it over at recoveryprincess.com because I believe in it’s value. I think that having someone else (in my opinion, a professional is best) to confide in and help sort through the emotions is necessary because it is so difficult to go through this kind of journey as well as live a normal life full of responsibilities.
Thanks for your website, it is great that you do this and I really appreciate it.
Madison