Addiction

Are You Tending Your Garden?

Recovery is much like tending our own garden. A garden needs water, fertilizer, sunshine, good soil and a lot of attention by the gardener. We, as Christians and recovering people need:

  • the water of prayer, meditation, and communing with God
  • the fertilizer of fellowship
  • the “Sonshine” of resting in Him (letting go and letting God)
  • the rich soil of God’s Word in which to firmly anchor our roots. Not only must we read the Word but we must *understand* it and *actively apply* it to our own lives. Roots must be anchored in the soil, they must take up the nourishment and then send it to the entire system of the plant so it may flourish.
  • a lot of attention by us, as our own gardeners, to remove all weeds that appear.

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What’s Love Got to Do With It?

What does love have to do with recovery? EVERYTHING! Easily a book could be written on this subject but I only have a few lines, so here goes.

Lack of self-love results in a tremendous amount of inner pain. Low self-esteem often leads people to look to sources outside of themselves for the love that they do not feel for themselves. This can result in “looking for love in all the wrong places” like same sex relationships, drugs, abusive relationships, codependent relationships, eating too much, alcohol, improper sexual relationships, etc. Or one might try medicating the pain with drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, etc.

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Gambling FAQ

What is Compulsive Gambling?

Compulsive Gambling is an illness, progressive in its nature, which can be never be cured, but can be arrested.

Before coming to Gambler’s Anonymous many compulsive gamblers thought of themselves as morally weak, or at times just plain “no good”. The Gamblers Anonymous concept is that compulsive gamblers are really very sick people who can recover if they will follow to the best of their ability a simple program that has proved successful for thousands of other men and women with a gambling or compulsive gambling problem.

What should a Compulsive Gambler Do to Stop?

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Addiction FAQ

Q. I would like to attend a meeting in the chat room, how do I join?
A. To join any of our online meetings, you need to register with CIR HERE. It’s a two-step process, you will receive one email asking you to confirm your email address by clicking on a link, and a second email assigning you a password.

Q. Can you help me find a meeting in my area?
A. If you are looking for a face-to-face meeting near you, check our Online Database

Q. I am doing a paper on recovery can you send me more information?

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Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism FAQ

What is alcoholism?

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes the following four symptoms:

Craving–A strong need, or urge, to drink.

Loss of control–Not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun.

Physical dependence–Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety after stopping drinking.

Tolerance–The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get “high.”

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When Loved Ones Resent Your Recovery

It is not uncommon for those who start a new life in recovery to encounter resentment from their spouses, loved ones and/or friends. If this is the case, you will be put to the test by those who care for you most. This can be confusing because those who should be encouraging you in recovery are actually making it more difficult.

Your spouse may become resentful because you are spending more time at recovery meetings and less time with them. Stand strong and lovingly explain to your spouse that you need to take time for yourself in order to get your life back on track. Suggest that they come with you to open meetings where the loved ones are welcome so they can better understand your recovery process.

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Family Members and Your Addiction

Are you witnessing a decline in your family’s lifestyle and overall happiness? Maybe you are the culprit.

As your tolerance level for your drug of choice or habit increases, more and more of the substance or act is needed to get the desired effect. Though your behavior is now having an obvious negative effect on you and those around you, they rationalize, excuse and minimize the problems just as you do.

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Do You Worship a Thing?

The traditional symbol of the medical profession, the serpent on a pole, is commonly known as the staff of Asklepios. This was the name of a Greek physician of the eighth or ninth century BC. And it involved one of the most anomalous events in the Bible. Yet the roots of the serpent and pole symbol go back farther, to the Exodus from Egypt around 1200 BC. When the children of Israel were plagued with venomous snakes, Moses was instructed to “……. “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard (pole); and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live (Num. 21:8, 9).”

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Disorderly Sleep

Sleep had been elusive, the reasons obvious. How can one sleep with the desire for the drug at hand? And being equipped with sufficient negative motivation, you’ll find it difficult to get any rest at all.

In full-blown addiction, you’ll not be plagued by guilt or loneliness or humiliation, nor will you be depressed with the indignity of prison or jail. You will be consumed with dope trekking and questions like…“Who’s got it?”, “Where can I get it?”, “How good is it?”, “How much is it?” and “How can I raise the money for it?”

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