Once addicts are sober for a while they find that the "pink cloud" of recovery starts to dissipate. But when they first get sober everything seems wonderful.
Their family starts talking to them again. Maybe their husband or wife is giving them a second chance. If they're on parole or probation the officer quits threatening to send to take them back into custody. Even their dog loses its fear of them.
They start getting a paycheck. Maybe they can afford a car. They replenish their wardrobe. All-in-all it seems as though they're on the sunny side of the street.
But once the newness of recovery wears off things can change. Because life still happens whether we're sober or not. While life seemed rosy for a while because we stopped living under the cloud of negativity that comes with addiction, we begin to realize that the humdrum of daily life has returned. We're back living the life we lived before our addiction took over.
And maybe we encounter the same life issues that prompted us to begin coping with our boredom or pain with drugs or alcohol. And this is the point where we must make a decision: am I going to learn to live with life on life's terms? Or am I going to get back into the chemicals that gave some relief until they didn't work anymore?
And this is the point where we either relapse - or else use the tools of recovery to work our way through life's issues.
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