The word serenity paints a picture of peace and stillness, as if ocean waves can be heard in the background and the warmth of the sun can be felt on the face. People have a general desire to acquire serenity in their lives, and Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer for serenity provides several reasons why it is so important in a recovery journey.
Serenity helps overcome obstacles.
There are some things that a person in recovery cannot change such as poor decisions that hurt others as an addict. This can create an obstacle in the recovery process by not allowing you to forgive yourself. Serenity can help you accept your mistakes and move toward healing. Other obstacles seem impossible to overcome, like believing addiction has determined your life story forever. Serenity can help you face seemingly overcomeable obstacles giving you freedom to rewrite your better story.
Serenity helps you to take one day at a time and enjoy small moments.
Recovery is a process that will be filled with good days and bad days. On the worst days you can feel like you will never recover. Serenity will help you to slow down on the worst days and reflect on the small victories you have enjoyed in your conquest toward recovery. You can’t eat a whole elephant in one bite they say.
Serenity helps you accept that life is not always easy.
You already know that recovery is a process, and that it will be difficult. Add into that process some of life’s common struggles and you have a potential recipe for a disastrous relapse. Experiencing stressful situations is one of the key reasons people choose to use again and end up relapsing. Having serenity will allow a person to accept more easily that bad things happen in life and furthermore open your mind to the possibilities of getting through it.
Serenity reinforces your choice to be free from addiction.
Serene people in recovery have surrendered themselves to their new identity. No matter what happens in their lives they choose to no longer believe they are a slave to their addictions. They are new people who are free from addiction and therefore able to experience a richer fuller life. There still may come times when a serene person is tempted to relapse, but those temptations have far less power when their identity lies somewhere other than being an addict.
The Springboard Center wants to change the way the Permian Basin and beyond approaches substance abuse. Our residential treatment programs offer an opportunity to restore the health and dignity of clients and their families. Call us today for information on our programs for addiction and alcoholism: (432) 620-0255
