Addiction Recovery Poem - Third Step Poem "Today"

Third Step

Today

By D. Connolly

Gratitude and prayer at this time

A perception sublime takes hold of the mind

Shattered memories and remorseful thoughts

Grace is sufficient for all I have brought

Another opportunity to live was given to me

I sought for God whom gave it for free

My troubled heart given without fear

Temptation evanesces as God draws near

Mercy upon me after what has been done

God provides this to all who choose to come

Sacrificing my ways as in truth I pray

Provide me with your will for I will obey

Sober Life Poem - Second Step: The Room

Second Step

The Room

By D. Connolly

Enslaved to my will –

While living in fear

Losing myself out there –

Until I found myself in here

Pervading in thought and endearing my heart

I have looked for a solution since the start

With apprehension I sit and linger in doubt

The meeting begins with a speaker of clout

In silence I listen as my true nature is unveiled 

Indifference dissipates after each voice is revealed

I connected in spirit and heard of their reprieve

When the chairs are pushed in we begin to leave

Approaching someone –

who just shared their own strength

Finding a person –

willing to speak with me at length

They suggest seeking to rely on a power greater than me

Hope arises inside as I begin to believe

Sober Life Poem - First Step: Honesty

First Step

Honesty
By D. Connolly

An empty heart filled by an empty bottle

A constant struggle as I continue to unravel

Some consternation from my perceived iniquity

Consequences of indulgence in obsessive quantity

Perseverance to live another day – 

Has abruptly faded away

I admit  life is an aberration to me –

Which relieves my dismay

Seeking out of the gates from insanity on my own accord

Recognizing the key is honesty, I begin to move forward

Surrendering from the constraints of a self inflicted battle

I admit being defeated as I turn on another path to travel

Without promises for tomorrow –

To be broken in sorrow

I begin to adopt a new principal –

As a value to follow

I am powerless today

For which is assured

There is freedom in honesty

After what I endured

Alcoholism Article - Understanding the Process of Alcohol Recovery

What many people fail to realize, or at least pretend not to notice, is that alcohol is a poisonous, addictive substance. It is only when caught in this addiction that the alcoholic may some day come to realize just how powerful alcohol addiction is. The worst part for the recovering alcoholic is the nonchalant manner with which everyone around flaunts alcohol on nearly every special occasion.

If you've been abusing alcohol for some time and cannot simply take a few months off from alcohol, free of physical or psychological pain, it is time to come to terms with your addiction. Once you've done this, you can get professional help to get you through the process of alcohol recovery. Alcohol recovery is a means of saving your life, and possibly the lives of others with whom you may have contact in the future.

If you know you struggle with alcohol, yet you see it as merely your own business, not impacting others, it is time for you to do a careful investigation of how you've impacted others already. If necessary, ask those around you about it.

Consider how your relationships are impacted. Consider how well you do your job now. Do some research on what other people have to say about how alcohol has impacted their family members and coworkers. Don't let yourself make excuses or rationalize. It is only when you are willing to be open to the difficulties of life, than you can achieve alcohol recovery.

Taking Responsibility and Taking Steps Toward Alcohol Recovery

Now, if you're willing to take responsibility for your life and your impact on others, it is time to start fighting for your sobriety. You need to remove any unnecessary temptations. You cannot control what others carry with them, but you should never purchase or have alcoholic beverages in your home, vehicle, or office, even if they're for someone else.

For a period of time, you may even need to pull out of your regular life relationships, especially with others who drink. Find people who will be very supportive of your alcohol recovery efforts.

If your first effort at alcohol recovery fails, you need not give up on alcohol recovery. This is likely just a sign that you need professional help. There is no shame in getting professional help, only in continuing to be a slave of alcohol. Alcohol recovery professionals are trained to help you get control over your life.

Detox is, of course, the next step. You've probably heard the horror stories about withdrawal and detox. While it is true that there can be severe physical pain during withdrawal as your body readjusts to life without alcohol, this phase is temporary if you stay on the wagon. The more difficult task is learning once again how to deal with every day life struggles without a drink.

You will need to fill the voids in your life with new activities. You will need to develop a spiritual life and some new hobbies. Your life needs to have a purpose to help others and to go beyond pleasing yourself. With patience and good professional counseling, you can experience alcohol recovery once and for all.

http://www.stopaddiction.com/index.php/Rehab/Alcohol-Rehab/

One of the largest and most successful drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in the world.

List of Florida Detox - Rehabs - Outpatient Facilities in Florida

The following is a list of Florida Drug and Alcohol Treatment Institutions for Detox, Rehab, and Outpatient Treatment.

Break The Cycle
https://breakthecycle12.com/
Outpatient IOP
Daytona Beach
Bunnell

Detox Of South Florida
https://detoxofsouthflorida.com/
Drug and Alcohol Detox and Rehab Programs
Veterans and Elderly Programs
Okeechobee Fl

Sunrise Detox Orlando
https://sunrisedetoxorlando.com/
Detox Services
Orlando, Fl

Novus Medical Detox Centers
https://www.novusdetox.com
Detox Program
Tampa Bay, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida

South Florida Detox
https://www.detoxoffice.com/
Detox Program
West Palm Beach, Florida

Serenity House Detox Center
https://www.serenityhousedetox.com/
Lauderhill, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida

Lakeview Health Addiction, Treatment and Recovery
https://www.lakeviewhealth.com/
Inpatient - Outpatient - Detox
Jacksonville, Florida

Beaches Recovery
https://www.beachesrecovery.com/
Inpatient - Outpatient - Detox
Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Lumiere Treatment Center
https://lumieredetoxcenter.com/
Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Detox - Inpatient - Outpatient
Jupiter, Florida

Oasis Treatment Center
http://oasistreatmentcenter.org/
Outpatient Services
Daytona Beach, Florida

Sunrise Detox
https://sunrisedetoxftlauderdale.com/
Drug and Alcohol Detox
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Early Sobriety Helpful Tips - Staying Clean and Sober

Very helpful and informative article on early sobriety.

Sobriety Maintenance: 5 Tips to Stay Safe and Sober
By Jane Derry

In recovery, only one thing has to change, but that is everything. And everything is included in everything. Spirituality, emotionality and mentality are addressed in other articles. This article is purely about the material and physical.

5 Tips to guard sobriety:

1. Mouthwash

Make sure that your mouthwash does not contain alcohol. Read the label carefully before purchase, and check the bottles in your bathroom. If they contain alcohol, throw them out! It isn't worth the risk. The taste and smell are triggers that you may not even be aware of while gargling, but your disease knows, and will take advantage of your vulnerability.

2. Cough Syrups

Same as with mouthwash, check all the labels before you buy, many cough syrups do contain alcohol. Cough suppressants may also contain narcotics, such as codeine. If you are in doubt, ask your pharmacist to verify the product is narcotic free. Many people in recovery have relapsed by naively using cough syrups, and triggering a craving. That almost happened to Bill W. himself.

3. Hair Products and After Shave

In early recovery you just can't be too careful. Think about using a gel or hairspray, or aftershave lotion containing alcohol. All your senses will be encased in the cloud of alcohol fumes. Don't risk triggering a craving, just to use a certain product. There are many alternatives to alcohol based products.

4. Menu Items at Restaurants

It seems that the more expensive and fancy the restaurant is, the more likely dishes contain alcohol. Read the description carefully before ordering. If there is booze in it, don't order it. If your server tells you not to worry, that the alcohol is cooked off, don't risk it! Is your sobriety worth the Coq au Vin? Let your server know that you have a deadly allergy to alcohol. By using the word 'allergy' in a restaurant, you will be taken very seriously.

5. Someone Offers You a Drink

This can be really scary in early sobriety. Don't be caught off guard. Here are some possible answers:

No thanks, I'm not drinking today.
No thanks, I'm allergic to alcohol. When I drink, I break out in spots. Like Vancouver, Calgary, Hawaii...
No thanks, you don't have enough here for me.
No thanks, I don't want to vomit on you.
No thanks, but I'll take the money instead.
Seriously though, have an answer ready. Usually "No thanks" by itself is enough. You don't have to explain anything to anybody. And besides, you'll quickly find out that most people don't care or notice. It isn't all about you.

Early sobriety can be a heady exciting time. Just remember that alcohol is a subtle foe, you must be vigilant, and keep yourself safe at all times. Soon enough, it will just become habit and second nature.

If sobriety doesn't come first, nothing comes second.

Jane Derry is an addictions expert and spiritual counselor at a drug rehab in Panama.

Jane and her husband are the directors of Serenity Vista Addiction Recovery Retreat, nestled in the mountain highlands of Boquete, Panama.

http://www.serenityvista.com.

Visit our website: http://www.serenityvista.com. Recover, discover, and transform.

Staying Clean and Remain Sober from alcoholism and drug addiction

How Do I stay Sober?
Eoin Carter

I once asked an old-timer around AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) how to stay sober and he said that if I didn't take the first drink I wouldn't get drunk.

It sounds obvious but there is only one way to stay sober and that is not to pick up that first drink!

What all alcoholics need is the help to begin doing that and help is widely available. It's important to understand that stopping drinking is relatively easy.

Yes, alcohol detoxification can be uncomfortable and even dangerous but it's easily managed with the right professional treatment. So getting through detox and getting sober is fairly easy. Staying stopped is entirely another matter.

You see alcoholism is more a thinking than a drinking problem and unless the alcoholic is open to assistance in changing the way he or she approaches life, sobriety reaches a point of being unbearable and taking a drink seems the most attractive option again.

Whilst a spell in an alcohol rehab centre is not the only way to start on the road to sobriety it is a great start. In order to stop drinking effectively it is crucial that any alcoholic undergoes a detoxification process. The best way to detox is with professional medical supervision, something offered by all quality alcoholic rehab's facilities.

Further treatment in a Primary Care rehab centre will increase the patients understanding of alcoholism as a disease and of how to adopt strategies to live with the disease whilst adapting to a new way of living in sobriety.

Most residential rehab facilities will have introduced the alcoholic to 12 step fellowship meetings such as AA, being familiar with these fellowships and programmes provide the alcoholic with their number one resource in their journey discovering a new way of life.

Here are a few basic tips that experience staying sober have proved to be useful suggestions on the road to alcoholism recovery.

Get to a 12 Step Meeting as often as you can. In early recovery it is hard to do too many meetings, the fellowship suggestion of 90 meetings in 90 days was not concocted by accident, and experience shows it helps. In fact if you can get through the first 90 days sober you've passed a useful milestone and relapse after 90 days is less frequent.

Make plans. Try not to be around drinking people and places and try to avoid the things that used to accompany your drinking. Old drinking friends, familiar haunts and things that may trigger a craving to drink are best avoided so if you have to be around events such as weddings, parties or work functions; have a plan.

Make a time to leave, make sure you have your own transport and keep a fellow alcoholic's, in recovery of course, number on your phone, if things get tough make that call! No one understands the alcoholic problem like another alcoholic.

Do things-Structure your time for productivity and enjoyment. Being sober is the start of a new way of life, the opportunity to do the things drinking got in the way of. Take up a new hobby or revive an old interest. Whether it is just for fun or the route to something new like training or education there is a lot of productive time to be enjoyed sober.

Take care of yourself. Regular gym time, a massage or just a walk in the park can do your body and soul good. Many alcoholics get a real sense of satisfaction from just taking a little care of themselves or even their appearance. Living sober is about a new way of life and taking care of yourself is a good place to start.

There is a well used acronym in sober living, HALT, it means hungry, angry, lonely and tired and these are four states that the alcoholic in recovery needs to look out for. Don't put off eating, or eating properly, good body sugar levels and nutrition are important. Anger is never a happy state, be aware of what makes you angry, and find better ways to deal with it.

Don't get lonely, attend meetings, get phone numbers and use them reach out for the help that is all around you. Get the rest your mind and body needs, a tired mind is a confused one.

Above all, have fun.There are no guarantees in a sober life. Stuff still happens, but adopting these few simple suggestions may help an alcoholic stay sober and even enjoy being sober.

http://wedorecover.com provide free advice on how to get into an alcohol detox and stay sober.