My blogs generally go out on Mondays, and this Monday I
could not sent out an email, as I could not type. My fingers, wrists, elbow,
shoulder, knee, ankle and neck were all sore. Most of those joints were also swollen
and the pain was actually pretty intense. It was bad enough that I went to
urgent care yesterday, were I got to spend about 5 hours of my life.
I could insert joke about urgent here, but they were really
busy and they got me back to a room pretty quickly. Then they sent me to a lab
so they could draw 5 vials of blood from me for testing. Some of those tests we
got back quickly, one we will not get back until today and the others we will get
back in a week or so.
What we found is that I had pain in multiple joints and
swelling in my hands and wrists. I had a low white blood cell count, elevated
sedimentation rate, elevated liver enzymes and low globulin. Another test
showed that I was normal for Rheumatoid arthritis, but my doctor said that
could happen and me still have it. Finally, I get the connective tissue
diseases results back today and the tick studies will be back in up to a week.
What I know is that I have a doctor from rheumatology I will
be seeing, as soon as they call to set up the appointment. I have a follow up
with a PCP (this stands for Primary Care Physician, not the drug phencyclidine)
once his office calls to set it up. The doctor is leaning towards either a tick
bite or rheumatoid arthritis at this point with the test results he has seen so
far.
I also have a procedure next Friday for my internal problems
I have been struggling with. None of this is said to concern you, but at the
age of 42 I am pretty certain that I would not be having a lot of the issues
that I am currently having if not for 2 plus decades of substance abuse and my
lack of consistency with a healthy diet and exercise currently.
So, if you have not yet done drugs I encourage you not to. I
had to get all fake teeth put in at 30 due to rotting all of my teeth out from
my methamphetamine use. I have horrible internal issues that act up most times
I eat anything. I have a son and daughter that I might or might not get to see
grow up, because of all of the damage I have done to my body.
If you are doing drugs, I encourage you to quit now. Most of
my old running buddies are either dead or in prison for 10 year plus sentences.
I am working and get to spend time with my wife and children and play at the
park with them. Trust me; this recovery thing is everything they tell you it
is. There is a better life in recovery, and I am living proof!
There are some requirements to recovery, and I would say
that everyone can benefit from them whether they struggle with addictions or not. Here are 8 of my requirements to living a better life. I start with my 5 Pillars and add a few more:
- Higher Power – Find something bigger than you that gives you validation, forgiveness, compassion and love. I use Jesus, others use their home group. Find what works best for you and latch onto it!
- Sponsor/Mentor – Find someone whose life you would like to have in 5 years (family life, finances, spirituality, faith, sobriety, etc.) and ask them to help guide you in that pursuit.
- Accountability Partners - Find people with similar goals, for themselves and for you, and give them permission to call you out. This could be people you work with, live with, go to church with, go to meetings with or just meet once a week for coffee.
- 12 Steps/Biblical - Find a plan that can guide you in the way you want to live your life and just do it. I wholly believe in the 12 steps and have seen people use them for so much more than just drug/alcohol addiction. I have seen them used to work through depression, anxiety, eating issues, divorce, pornography, codependency and a lot more. They can cure your hurts, habits and hang-ups.
- Meetings/Groups – Find groups of people with similar struggles who are trying to overcome them. If you cannot find a group that fits your bill, than start one. These can be anything from Alcoholics Anonymous to Celebrate Recovery to Support groups for survivors of cancer or suicide to small groups that give education on having a happy home life and everything in between.
- Drop the Zeroes – If you have friends that are not trying to better their lives, and they don’t support you bettering yours than lose them. You are either for me or against me, there is no middle ground. This is no different than a team letting players go to insure it can be successful. Stick with the winners and win with the people who stick around, keep coming back and consistently do and say the right thing.
- Meditation/Prayer – When life is going great or it is going poorly, these two will always make the day better. Focus on positive things in your life, express your gratitude and ask to do and be more!
- Community Service - Give back to the community you live in by getting involved in something that focuses on making your community better. Service work is vital, but community service work is so much more fulfilling. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and I actually felt that I was a part of my community again. Try it and you will see what I mean!
There is a lot more, but this is a great start. I have never
seen someone who committed themselves to these 8 things fail in their sobriety.
It is just too hard to find time to mess up. Put the same amount of effort you
put into your addiction into your recovery and watch it GROW!!!
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