Lean On Me
Every year, millions of people decide to turn their lives in the midst of addiction into lives in the midst of recovery. One of the problems people encounter when making this change is that some of the close relationships they formed with people through addiction are lost and they may feel that they lose their support system. People who face problems while going through recovery need as much or more support than they did when they were in the midst of their addictions. Many times, they would lean on their addictions when times got hard. This isn’t the best thing to lean on but it’s still very true in a lot of cases. Finding something or someone to lean on, in place of the addiction, can be difficult because this can be a new experience.
Many people in recovery have found one of the best ways to replace the crutch of addiction is by finding other sober people to lean on. A person traveling the road of recovery can tell you they have found numerous people willing to help them when times got tough. Whether they need a ride, a place to stay or just someone to listen, these can all be found in a local 12-step meeting. There is a story in Alcoholics Anonymous about a successful business and family man who could not control his drinking until after seven years of seeing a psychiatrist. At that point, his doctor told him he was an alcoholic and he found companionship within a 12-step meeting. The writer speaks about this when he says, “And should I have more bad times, I know that I’ll never again have to go through them alone.”
Problems in life still arise, whether someone is batting an addiction, is in recovery or has never had to battle addiction in his life. I can speak to this point from my own personal experience. There have been times in my recovery when I have faced issues which would have caused me to plunge into a bottle of alcohol faster and with more force than a speeding train. I was lucky enough to have developed a support system filled with family, friends in recovery and friends not in recovery that I could lean on during those times. It wasn’t the easiest thing for me to do, but I can say it was the best thing for me to do.
Sometimes it can still be hard to lean on this great support system when a problem arises, but I found a support system with shoulders big enough to carry any problem I could ever encounter. My supreme support system is my supreme Father, God. One of the most known sayings in recovery is, “Let go and let God.” In essence, this is saying to quit holding onto the problems and give them to God. My favorite verse in the Bible is, “Humble yourself, therefore, under God’s might hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7).” I feel this is such a great verse because it reassures me that, no matter how bad the situation is that I’m in and no matter how big the problem is, I know I am not in it alone and I have Him to lean on.
What tips do you have for finding and using a support system to lean on?