1. Authentic Friendships

No fake friends where the real friends at?! In the midst of an alcohol or drug addiction where you are partying every day it may seem like you have a lot of “friends”. In reality, these are your drunk buddies and fellow drug users. It is a completely surface relationship which disappears once the party is over. Honestly ask yourself if you could count on your fellow parties for anything? Anything at all? Didn’t think so. The sober life gives you true authentic friendships with people who legitimately care for you. I know it sounds hard to believe if you lived most of your life in an addicted state of mind, but I promise you it is true. It may even take some time to get used to. I always questioned why people were helping me? What do they expect in return? The answer is nothing. Self-sacrifice for others is a big part of sobriety, and soon you will find yourself doing the same for others.

2. Peace of Mind

Living with an addiction is like having multiple personalities and they all are trying to kill each other. It doesn’t end well. Think about it. Part of you wants to get sober, and the other part has no interest in life without speedballs. These warring sides can tear someone apart. The beautiful thing is once recovery happens, in comes this strange and foreign topic…peace. Your mind is at ease because you aren’t fighting anymore. It’s ok to just be. And all that stuff you used to worry about doesn’t bother you anymore. Soon you will be the zen master of your family. I’ve seen people go from having a conniption over getting the wrong food order to dealing with a death in their family without losing their mind. Its all because they got sober.

3. Financial Security

Do yourself a favor. Add up how much you were spending on your drug of choice for the past year of your active use. It’s a lot, right? Well, now that you are sober you won’t be spending that hard-earned cash anymore! Bank accounts grow exponentially while in recover. As we become more responsible and diligent in managing our funds our security financially will grow. Got money problems? Get sober!

4. Healthy Relationships

Recovery is all about relationships. Usually how bad we screw up our relationships is directly proportional to how deep we are addicted. Your job has let you go due to your attitude, and not showing up the past the few days. Your boyfriend/girlfriend found out you were cheating on them because while addicted you have no moral compass. The fam found out about all the money you stole. We could go on and on in this list of failed relationships. The good news is that you have the opportunity to fix everything you broke. That’s why amends means “to fix” not “to apologize”. And you will be shocked how healthy your relationships become when you aren’t lying, cheating, and stealing anymore. It’s so simple it's stupid, but unfortunately the hard truth for some of us. Do good in your relationships and good will return to you.

5. Renewed Interest in Hobbies

A lot of us gave up on things we legitimately loved due to our addiction. That’s because maintaining the lie we were living was a 24/7 job. And the lies we told kept us feeling so guilty we didn’t even want to be seen in public. Now in recovery all the fun stuff you used to love doing like working out, yoga, painting, reading, going on hikes, hanging with friends, eating, etc. will come back and then some. The best part is that the excitement of these activities will return times 10, and it will feel like a new discovery.

6. Physical Appearance

The fit body and beautiful face of yours don’t go away but boy can we beat ourselves into the dirt while we are using. An addiction to meth can turn a solid 10 into a 2 in a hot minute. Our faces clear up. Our clothes are clean. We are going to the gym again. Teeth become whiter. Most importantly we are genuinely smiling. Smiling is a better look then having your eyes in the back of your head due to a dope nod. Trust me.

7. Unrelenting Joy

Now this one may take a while. The destruction we have caused to the chemicals in our brain is worrisome. But they will return to normal. It just takes time. When you wake up in the morning you will laugh while brushing your teeth over the things you used to cry about. You will have the deepest belly laughs you have had since you were a crazed kid. Your optimism and hope will be so contagious that even your family of normys will ask if you are high because you are, but this time you are high on life.

8. The Ability to Help Others

In order to keep sobriety, you have to give it away. I know these paradoxes may look like nonsense on paper, but they are true. The ability to give the gift of recovery to another struggling addict or alcoholic is one of the greatest joys available in this life. Bringing someone out of the muck that you once were stuck in. You have the ability to help when no one else can.

9. Living without Fear

Fearlessness becomes a side effect of recovery. Not all fear leaves. Some fear is good. It keeps us alive. The thing that says run when you see a snake will still be there. You will lose the other kind of fear. The fear or anxiety of just being will leave. You can do things like speak in front of 100 people without breaking a sweat. You talk to the girl/guy you always wanted to. You speak up to the bullies in your life. Laughing the whole time that you lived so afraid before. But seriously don’t go pet a tiger or something.

10. Self Esteem Sky Rockets!

One of the hardest things to teach is self-esteem. It is a personal endeavor. But after being sober for awhile you will learn to love yourself warts and all! Hating yourself because of the things you have done or said will no longer keep you up at night. The person looking back at you in the mirror will be beautiful. Because you survived something that most people don’t. A personal hell called addiction. And after you live through that you can conquer anything!

If you or a loved one are in need of alcohol or drug addiction treatment please don't hesitate to call us at 610-233-4342 or email [email protected]