Excerpt from Recovery A to Z...

An addict alone is in bad company. The essence of twelve-step programs is experienced when one person in recovery talks to or works with another, whether one-on-one or in a group. Many people in recovery find it easier to talk with someone who has personal experience with addressing the feelings and other manifestations of addiction rather than talking with a professional, such as a therapist, psychiatrist, or clerical person. But because people tended to isolate while in active addiction, it can be difficult for them, once in recovery, to seek the company and counsel of others in the program. This slogan reminds them that it’s important to do so. When someone in recovery is alone, old thoughts and feelings can surface, along with the conviction that getting loaded might be a good idea.

Anger is fear in a party dress. In the recovery community it is generally accepted that the basis of most anger is fear. Addressing the root fear usually gets to the root of the anger.

Life is painful. Misery is optional. While it is virtually impossible to avoid pain; be it caused by the loss of a loved one, a relationship, financial security, or a job; the extent to which a person dwells in that pain is entirely up to him or her. Some of life’s events are painful; it’s our emotional response that generates misery. Through regular step work, meeting attendance, and contact with a support group, a person can avoid being miserable, although no one has ever been able to avoid pain.

Projection - living in the wreckage of the future. Most people can become overwhelmed by thinking about the future, particularly in early recovery. One must live in the present day, based on what is happening during that day and leave the results to a higher power or the process of recovery, doing the daily footwork to stay clean or maintain abstinence regardless of what happens in the future, without reservations.

The elevator is broken. Use the steps. There is no easy way to recover. The process of recovery is simple, but it requires work. Those who suffer from addiction are usually looking for instant gratification or an ‘elevator,’ rather than doing the work necessary in the ‘steps,’ otherwise known as the Twelve Steps.