Tools that Grant Serenity to Addicts and Others during a Crisis

Staying clean and sober is always a challenge for addicts and alcoholics no matter what is going on in the world or in someone’s life, but add a crisis and it becomes even more so.

During this global pandemic we have all faced many challenges, whether we are people who struggle with an addiction or not, but those in recovery are no strangers to having to navigate the many, many challenges of living life on life’s terms and this public health crisis is no different.

Those in recovery have been blessed during this global crisis to have been given an alternative to in person recovery meetings via the Zoom format that has exploded online, many of the so-called “Normies” of the world do not have these resources to deal with life and the many hardships that we humans tend to go through, pandemic or not.

Life shows up and for those in recovery, going to meetings are a lifeline to deal with emotional, mental, and spiritual problems that we have to deal with in this life. I know for me, I would not be able to deal with my mind and those outside issues of people, places, and things without the tools that recovery has given me and I know that others feel the same.

The Mind is a Dangerous Neighborhood

There is an old saying that talks about the mind being a dangerous neighborhood for an addict and/or an alcoholic to hang out in and this is very true and certainly something that I have experienced in my own journey.

During this pandemic there has been a lot of time for people to be in their own heads and to isolate from others being that we have been in lockdowns and stay at home orders in most parts of the country and the world.

There has been a lot of time to get caught up in our thoughts and a lot of the time those thoughts are not positive ones but rather are negative and destructive thoughts that can be very harmful to our recovery and our mental, emotional, as well as spiritual well-being.

Thankfully, if we have worked the steps or sought help through psychiatry and therapy or other outlets, we have tools to stay sober, sane, and well and this is not the case for those who are defined as normal by society and do not have a program.

These tools can be used to get us out of the dangerous places that a mind goes and help us to maintain our serenity, our sobriety if we are in recovery, and our overall well-being during a time like a pandemic or any other challenging time or situation.

The isolation created by the pandemic is one of the things that we need to find tools to get out of and it is by using the tools to quiet the mind and find that peace and serenity that we can get through to the other side. On the flip side, if we do not find the tools to get over the isolation then the opposite happens and we fall deeper into the rabbit hole of isolation, depression, and flat out despair.

The Tools to Fix the Crisis or Challenges we Face

There are some tools that we can utilize to fix things when we struggle with any issue, pandemic or not.

The pandemic has been hard because of what it is. It brings up old feelings of isolation and being alone that are familiar with many addicts and alcoholics and can bring up fear, especially for those who have serious medical issues as well as anger when people do not wear masks or keep their distance, it can bring up all of these things.

However, the pandemic is not the only way that people struggle, it just makes the normal struggles that folks go through that much more difficult and some things more challenging, things that were already hard for us to deal with in the past anyway.

Life has challenges and problems for all of us in normal times and add in a terrifying event like a global health crisis or racial unrest or anything else that is going on in the outside world into the mix then things in life can be super hard to navigate through, especially for those who struggle with mental issues or addiction.

There are tools though. A lot of them.

Reaching Out

Isolation is bad, but we can reach out. I find it important to reach out to others to get out of the isolation, especially during a time like this when we go less places than we did in the past and we are around less people than we were before this all started.

Reaching out is key. It is what will keep us out of that bad neighborhood of our heads that I mentioned earlier.

The way to get out of ourselves is to focus on others and reaching out does that, it is the way that we can get out of our own problems which helps us, but also helps us to focus on others and their problems, which can be very helpful to them as well.

Staying Busy

This is a tough one at a time like this.

Staying busy has been a part of my recovery and my overall journey from not so good times to the better times that I experience these days and for sure can keep me from getting into negative thoughts and actions that can create issues and get me into trouble.

I give this advice to others too. Stay busy, it could save you a lot of pain and in fact, it could save your life.

Now, this can be a challenge during a pandemic when things are not open like the gym, or many businesses where we normally work, and other places that we humans like to frequent, but it is possible to still stay busy and stay out of our heads as much as we can.

Prayer and Self-Care

These are two important things to do that often get overlooked.

Now, some people may not like to pray or do not believe in God at all, but I find it important to have some sort of connection to something greater than myself, whether that be God or another higher being.

I find myself in prayer more these days and that is because I do not always know what the next thing to do is and I need that guidance during those times, especially with a situation like the one that we all find ourselves in these days.

I get on my knees and pray in the morning when I wake up and then when it is time to retire at night, I pray again. I have found this to be important for my spiritual care and it helps me to stay grounded and in the sunlight of the spirit of my recovery.

Self-care is important too and I try and eat healthy food, workout, and take care of my emotional needs throughout the day. Getting enough sleep is an important tool that I have discovered throughout this journey that I am on as when I do not get enough sleep then I am off spiritually, mentally, as well as emotionally and of course, physically too.

These are just some of the tools that I use to get through difficult times like this pandemic or whatever I am going through. There are more, but these are just some of the ones that I use to get through things and stay healthy in the mind, the body, and the spirit.

A Serene and Happy Place is Attainable

Finding serenity and happiness is achievable.

The pandemic is frustrating as are the many other things that keep us stuck and unhappy in this life, but finding a way out and some peace and joy in our lives in completely attainable, even when we feel that it is not and that things will never change for the better.

That place of serenity in the middle of the storms of life (both inside and on the outside of ourselves) is not only possible, but it is guaranteed as long as we live this way of life of recovery from the chaos that we caused and that was brought upon ourselves by the outside world and our own actions during our trials.

There are tools available to us, we just have to use them.

Sometimes we know what we must do to get through an internal or external struggle, but the ability to take the needed action is not so simple, we know what to do, but not how to do it.

The bottom line is that peace and serenity is ours for the taking as long as we use the tools that are there for us.

Peace comes from within and the way that it is achieved is through faith and the way to get faith is through action — One day at a Time and One Step at a Time, we get there!