A Couple of Holiday Recovery Tips

image by Todd Trapani on Unsplash

The holiday season is a time that holds an increased possibility of disaster for people in recovery. There are a couple of obvious reasons for this and they are the powerful socially expectant ones of:

1. The pressure to be joyful and celebrate
2. The requirement to be in the same place, at the same time with other members of the family

On the first point, many people are working through the guilt & shame ghosts of holiday-seasons-past, where through active addiction, things got ruined pretty good. So, the idea of celebration isn’t the first item on the feeling’s menu, and as for even knowing how to celebrate without the ol’ drug of choice, well, this can still be a completely foreign concept.

image by krakenimages on Unsplash

On the second point, family are the ones who have the ability to poke at exactly the right spot, in the most adept way and at the most vulnerable time. So entering into the arena with the lions, voluntarily, is as appealing as a scheduled root canal.

So, if this holiday season you must do your social duty and enter into this particular situation, here’s a couple of quick tips:

1. Show up for one elderly relative who has always been special to you
2. Show up for the kids who still believe

Here’s my reasoning:

That elderly person sees you; and they see the innocence that’s still in you - somewhere. You may have forgotten it, trampled it and lost it along the way but they haven’t. They look at you and see all of the possibilities you still hold. 

image by Richard Stachmann on Unsplash

And as for those kids who still believe, well, it’s important for you to see, and be reminded of, exactly what this innocence looks like. When you do, you are not only recognizing what you’ve forgotten for yourself but also are becoming the elder to these kids because they are now seeing you - seeing it - in them. This acknowledgement, respect and active encouragement for the innocence is a Medicine of the soul. It keeps the spark of authenticity lit through the generations and serves as an antidote for addiction, which as you know, is bent upon extinguishing this spark.

So you see, while the holidays do indeed hold the potential for a triggered emotional disaster, they also hold the possibility to receive, and give, this long forgotten aspect of soul, along with its inherent ability to connect, acknowledge and heal.

With Blessings,

Randal