Overcoming Your Fear of Addiction Recovery

Do you fear addiction recovery? During my active addiction, I feared everything. Fear was the driving emotion in my life. I was afraid of an unknown future and was most afraid of becoming sober. I'd become comfortable in my mess and just the thought of anything different frightened me. The fear of addiction recovery hid itself in my untruths.

Lies I Told Myself Revealed My Fear of Addiction Recovery

Here are a few of the false truths I told myself. They kept me stuck in fear of addiction recovery.

• "Life won't be as fun sober. It will be dull and boring."
• "I don't have anything in common with people who are sober."
• "I will always be addicted."

A great acronym for fear is false evidence appearing real. My thoughts did not match reality while I was active in addiction. That's why it's important to think about what you're thinking about to overcome the fear of addiction recovery.

Recognize Thinking Errors to See Your Fears

Thinking errors can't be fixed until we recognize them and call them what they are: fears. You would not take your automobile in to be fixed if you didn't know it was broken. I was afraid, or fearful, my life would be dull and nobody would like me sober. I was also afraid of being successful at sobriety because I didn't know what I was like or who I was sober. In a nutshell, I was afraid of the unknown because I was believing my untruths.

Fears of Addiction Recovery Aren't Real

Your fear of addiction recovery isn't an honest fear (12 Lies Anxiety Tells You That Keep You Anxious and Fearful). Let me unpack some of these untruths for you.

'Life won't be fun sober'

That's so far from the truth it seems silly to say that now. It's silly because now that I'm sober I have more fun than ever before and I remember it. There is nothing fun about waking up, not knowing where you are and having to apologize to everyone you know for the things you did the night before. There is nothing fun about spending your bill money on drugs or alcohol. There's nothing fun about wrecking relationships.

Fun is spending quality time with your loved ones, painting a picture, playing a musical instrument, gardening, carving a pumpkin, learning to cook, roller skating, building a tent with the little ones, hunting and so on.

'I don't have anything in common with people who are sober' and 'I will always be addicted'

These two thinking errors go together because they deal with the addict's identity. I had always known myself as a junkie and a drunk. The truth is I am neither. Working through my fear of addiction recovery revealed the real me. During sobriety, I learned that I am actually very different than that. I am smart, kind, faithful, compassionate, and diligent and I have lots of interests and talents. Guess what? All those new interests and talents bring with them a whole new set of people to share them with.

I can assure you that the relationships you build in sobriety are much better than the ones you have with your drinking buddies. People will receive the sober you into their lives and your relationships with them won't have to constantly be rebuilt.

I know thinking about the future can be frightening. So, take it one day at a time and don't bother yourself with tomorrow. Focus on being the best you, this day. Any fear of addiction recovery will gradually disappear. I promise you a sober life is a full, happy life. Yes, there will be difficulties at times, but be confident that the sober you will be better equipped to handle them.