In recovery communities, particularly 12-Step fellowships, there is an emphasis on helping those new to recovery go through the process of achieving and maintaining sobriety. The concept of helping others as a means of maintaining one’s own sobriety comes from the collective experience of many men and women in recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous was the first recovery program to emphasize working with others in order to help maintain happiness and sobriety. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous states: “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail.” Through helping others, we feel a sense of purpose in our lives. After all, as men and women who have recovered from a hopeless state of body and mind, we may be the only people who will be trusted by someone in active addiction to show them the solution. It also takes us away from our tendency toward self-pity and rumination on our own problems. We get outside of ourselves and, inevitably, begin to feel happier and more joyous because we are making a difference in the lives of others. We do not force our help on other people. Everyone in on their own path in life and recovery may not be their priority. Instead, we focus on attraction of recovery rather than promotion. People new to recovery see the happiness and joy we have found in sobriety and will want to know how we found such a sense of peace and serenity in sobriety. When we help them achieve what we have, we spread the happiness that we have been fortunate enough to receive in sobriety, strengthening the importance we place on our own recovery. When we were in a state of active addiction, our lives were controlled by selfishness and self-seeking behaviors. In sobriety, we make a complete change in ourselves and actively engage in selfless acts by helping others. Then, our selfishness slips away and no longer puts us in danger of falling victim to entering back into the chaos of addiction. The Big Book explains that when we help others, “life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends—this is an experience you must not miss.”
Serenity and peace can become the greatest part of your story. Your life can be one of usefulness and joy in sobriety. All you have to do is seek help now. Oceanfront Recovery, a treatment facility in beautiful Laguna Beach, is dedicated to providing all the tools necessary to achieve and maintain permanent sobriety. For more information about treatment options, including Detox and Residential Treatment, please call today: (877) 279-1777
