Being in a recovery treatment program can provide us with the community and companionship we’ve been missing while living with addiction. When we’ve been isolating ourselves, ending relationships and struggling emotionally, community is often the last thing we think we need. Sometimes we’re prideful and determined to prove to ourselves and others that we can heal on our own. Sometimes we fear being judged by other people, so we avoid being in community with others. When we find a community where we feel safe and respected, we’re given the chance to not only be supported, but to give others support as well. Through offering our support to other people in need, we can be powerfully empowered in our recovery.
Giving support in a community can be an act of service. When we help others, we feel a renewed sense of purpose and fulfillment. We feel like we’re using our experiences for good and making a change in other people’s lives. We feel like our painful life stories have not been in vain but can instead be useful and helpful to someone else’s learning and growth. We feel like we’re contributing to their recovery. We feel good about ourselves. We have a reason to feel proud of ourselves. We feel a sense of accomplishment. We see firsthand that we can transcend our pain for the greater good of other people. We feel encouraged to keep finding ways of doing good. We look for more ways to be of service. We might start volunteering, offering our time and skills to those less fortunate. When we are directing our energy in positive and productive ways, we are much less likely to return to our self-destructive tendencies. We have a powerful reason to stay sober. We apply our gifts to something bigger than ourselves, and we can feel both humbled and uplifted in the process.
Being of service helps us to go beyond the limitations of our pain, to see just how important we can be to other people and their healing. We see that our past doesn’t have to hold us back, it can be directly useful to someone else’s recovery. We see that we’re not alone in our pain, or in our healing.
Our mission at Bayview Recovery is to create a safe and supportive community of people like you – people who want to heal and support each other’s healing. Call us today: 888-570-7154.
