Drug addiction is as crafty as it is baffling. Completing addiction treatment and pursuing a life of addiction recovery is not straightforward and will not take you down the path you expect, but those who have been there know that it is worth it nonetheless.
There will be days when you need something more to keep going – a gentle, spiritual kick in the pants to remind you that you have come
so far already, and that forward is the only direction to go. If today happens to be one of those days, then here are five quotes that can help you stay motivated on your recovery journey.
1. “You can get the monkey off your back, but the circus never leaves town.” – Anne Lamott
Celebrated author Anne Lamott has written candidly about her own addiction recovery and life spent sustaining that recovery, relating to her many fans the plain truths that resist being glossed over. One of them is that yes, you can achieve sobriety, but do not expect the world to accommodate you by removing temptations and triggers. The good news is that you have managed them so far, and you can continue to do so, one day at a time, or even one moment at a time.
2. “If you know someone who tries to drown their sorrows, you might tell them that sorrows know how to swim.” – Ann Landers
The only way that drowning one’s sorrows with alcohol ever “works” is when it takes the person, along with their sorrows, to a watery grave. Whether you drink for a night or for the rest of your life, the sorrows will still be there. Recovery is hard because you must square up against those sorrows, face them, and determine how you will deal with them, without substances. It may be the hardest thing you will ever do. Is it worth the effort? Absolutely.
3. “Recovery is all about using our power to change our beliefs that are based on faulty data.” – Kevin McCormack
How many people in this world drink or use drugs because of faulty beliefs they have had instilled in them forever? Beliefs may be things like, “bad things do not happen to good people,” or “only weak people have addictions.” Faulty beliefs may come from well-meaning family, friends, religious institutions, or societal constructs, but that does not make them any less faulty. Recovery starts and continues based on the truth.
4. “Whether I or anyone else accepted the concept of alcoholism as a disease didn’t matter; what mattered was that when treated as a disease, those who suffered from it were most likely to recover.” – Craig Ferguson
There are people, some of them in positions of great power, who will argue all day that alcoholism and addiction are weaknesses and not a disease. Let them argue. The plain truth of the matter is that when addiction is treated as the chronic, fatal disease that all the evidence confirms that it is, people have the greatest chance for recovery. Let the hard data on recovery speak the truth.
5. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
No one says that living in addiction recovery is effortless. At the same time, however, those efforts are manageable. Nowhere does any recovery program of merit imply that perfection is a goal. There will be some things you will try and fail at, and that is okay. The daily accumulation of all those small efforts you make eventually becomes something tremendous and strong. Just as the dry-stone masonry wall is built one small stone at a time, yet stands for centuries against all manner of forces, your continued sobriety is built upon countless seemingly small choices.
Inspirational quotes alone are not enough to overcome addiction, but there are many times when they can help you overcome the small hurdles you encounter going about your everyday life. Millions have been where you are, and they are proof that sustained sobriety is possible and that you deserve the countless blessings that it brings.
Please contact us today if you would like to share your thoughts about addiction recovery.
