The New Year is coming up and many of us make New Year's resolutions,
so I'd like to take this time to awaken those in need to some options
for recovery if you suffer from addictions as I do. I do not need to
wait to the years end to take self survey, since doing written
inventory work and introspection is part of my 12 step work. I
started with 12 step programs in 1974 and am now in 8 - 12 step
programs myself. The 12 step programs branched out from Alcoholics
Anonymous and all operate more or less along the same principles of
the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions of AA.
A thing is addictive for me when I lose control of it and the
addiction has control of me. Is the activity placing unreasonable
demands on my time and energy, will it place me in legal jeopardy or
endanger my mental, physical or spiritual health? There are more
specific questions that each 12 step program uses in its literature
that can guide you.
We must remember that not having control over a certain area once in a
a while does not make a person an addict. Even normal people drink too
much once in a while, normal people might eat too much once in a while
and normal people spend or have sex or spend too much once in a while.
The difference between addicts and normal people is, normal people can
stop when they see they have gone too far, whereas addicts cannot stop
even under penalty of death.
An important thing to remember with recovery is the 3-D's: Desire,
Determination and Diligence.
Desire:
Desire is the foundation for all recovery quests. You cannot help
someone without the desire in them to be helped. Desire is what gets
us taking that first step in the right direction when all seems
hopeless. Have you every tried to give advice or help someone in need
and they respond: "I don't care." They lack the desire or at least
this is what they say. Desire must come from within, you cannot force
someone to change, they must change themselves. But, before a desire
to change can be manifested, one must come to a "realization" that a
change needs to occur in ones life.
Determination:
Determination serves two purposes here. When something is "determined"
it is accepted as fact. We have determined that we are powerless over
our addiction and our lives are unmanageable. We have determined we
must abstain from certain people, places or things that we cannot
comfortably have in our lives. We are in the process of determining a
new set of rules on how to live. We have also determined what
injuries we have caused and what needs to be repaired through taking
personal inventory.
Determination serves a second purpose and that is it keeps us on the
long road to recovery. We cannot keep on this long road without being
determined to change our lives day in day out. Whether it is debt
recovery, clutter, restructuring our complex lives or losing weight it
all takes time and determination to stay on the path of recovery. Many
distractions, detours and set backs along the way, but we should
always be determined to keep pointed in the direction of recovery.
Diligence:
Diligence keeps us from going backwards once we finally arrive at the
recovery place we are aiming for. It takes diligence once we get to
where we want to be to maintain that serene spot, otherwise we fall
back on our old "natural" ways of living. Once you get sober and
abstinent from your drug of choice, once you lose the fat, once you
pay off your debts, once you clean up the clutter, it takes diligence
to keep you that way.
Most of the following 12 Step programs are on the web via a search.
ADD / ADHD Anonymous
Adult Children of Alcoholics
Alcoholics Anonymous
Al-Anon & Ala-Teen
Arts Anonymous
BODA (Business Owners DA)
Cancer Anonymous
Clutterers Anonymous
Co-Anon
Cocaine Anonymous
Co-Dependents of Sex Addicts
CODA (Codependents Anon)
Compulsive Eaters Anonymous / H.O.W.
Computer Addicts Anonymous
Couples Anonymous
Crystal Meth Anonymous
Debtors Anonymous
Divorce Anonymous
Dual Recovery Anonymous
Emotions Anonymous
Emotional Health Anonymous
Families Anonymous
Fear Of Success Anonymous
Food Addict Anonymous
Gam-Anon
Gamblers Anonymous
Herpes Anonymous
He-She Anonymous
HIV Anonymous
Incest Survivors Anonymous
Jews in Recovery
Lesbians Anonymous
Marijuana Anonymous
Manic Depressive Anonymous
Messies Anonymous
Money Anonymous
Nar-Anon Family Groups
Narcotics Anonymous NA
Nicotine Anonymous meetings
Nine Step Pagans (I won't discriminate even if they only use 9 steps.)
Overachievers Anonymous
Overeaters Anonymous
Obsessive Compulsive Anonymous
Parents Anonymous
Pills Anonymous
Procrastinators Anonymous
Rageaholics Anonymous
Recoveries Anonymous
Trauma Anonymous
Twelve Steps for Pagans
S-Anon
Sex Addicts Anonymous
Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous
Sexaholics Anonymous
Sexual Compulsives Anonymous
Spenders Anonymous
Survivors of Incest Anonymous
Vulgarity Anonymous
Vulganon
Workaholics Anonymous
Take care,
V (Male)
Agnostic Freethinker
Practical Philosopher
AA#2
For free access to my earlier posts on voluntary simplicity,
compulsive spending, debting, compulsive overeating and clutter write:
vfr44@aol.com. Any opinion expressed here is that of my own and is not
the opinion, recommendation or belief of any group or organization.
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