Addiction Recovery Sayings: You Walk the Walk but Do You Talk the Talk?

For anyone who has entered into addiction recovery, you know that recovery has it's own language. It is filled with words and sayings that don't always make sense to those who aren't familiar with addiction recovery. But for those of us that our working our recovery...we know just what these addiction recovery sayings are, well, trying to say.

I can't explain why but I get quite a kick out of sayings that seem to be adopted by an entire group. This goes for things like officisms. You know, the type of language and sayings that you would never dream of using with friends and family but for some reason you find perfectly acceptable in an office setting. This would include things like "the net-net", "hit the ground running", "putting out fires", and "get all your ducks in a row".

Well just like those officisms have been adopted as appropriate language in an office setting, there are terms and sayings that are utilized by the addiction recovery community. I wanted to take a look at some of the more popular sayings and explain to everyone just what they mean.

http://www.whatwinnersdo.com - I have actually adopted this phrase as the domain name of my personal addiction recovery site. Basically, to Do What The Winners Do means to take example from those in recovery that are already living the life that you would like to be living in the future. What they did works for them, it will most likely work for you.

Easy Does It, But Do It - This saying is pointing to the fact that addicts tend to have a slight tendency to procrastinate. Ok...it's what we have based our life upon up until this point. Procrastination is one of the "character flaws" (I'll get into that one later) that we work on modifying in ourselves. Procrastination causes guilt about the past and dread about the future. So this saying sure, take your time and let things work themselves out, BUT do what you can to make that happen.

One Day At A Time - Even those who are not part of the recovery community have heard this one (or have seen it on a sticker stuck to someone's bumper). This saying is actually the foundation that a person in addiction recovery builds their sobriety on. Addicts live in the past, and dread the future. This saying reminds us to stay in the present. Do what we can today and you won't have to ever dread the future or think about things you didn't do in the past. Do everything you can today. It also points to the fact that, as far as sobriety goes, you just have to go today without using.

Let Go And Let God - In addiction recovery there is something called the Serenity Prayer. In this prayer (which by the way, is directed toward the God of your understanding) you ask for the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can and the knowledge to know the difference. This saying of Let Go And Let God reminds addicts that they are not in control of everything. There are things that are out of their power to have an impact on. It is those things that you need to let go of and let them work themselves out.

Dry Drunk - This term is used to describe someone who has stopped using mood altering substances but has not done any work on beginning to recover. An addict/alcoholic is more than just the substance they are addicted to. It is about addictive thinking and addictive behaviors. If nothing is done to begin to heal the addictive thought process and the destructive behaviors...you are simply an addict without an addiction. The term White Knuckling It also has the same meaning. There is a saying that says "if you sober up a horse thief, all you are left with a sober horse thief".

Those Who Laugh, Last - when someone enters into addiction recovery, they usually are not in a state where they can laugh at themselves or their situation. It is an awful hard thing to come to terms with. But if you are doing things right, you do come to terms with the fact that you are now a recovering addict. This saying points out the fact that if you are getting months of sobriety under your belt and you still have an inability to laugh about yourself...there is a problem. Those who find that they are able to once again accept themselves and laugh about themselves and their situation are the ones that are accepting life on life's terms. Those are the ones who are more likely to make it.

Identify, Don't Compare - One common theme in addicts is their inability to identify with others. They are usually comparing their insides to the outsides of others. They might say, this person looks like they have nice cares, nice clothes...they must be much happier or more well adjusted than I. WRONG. What a recovering addict needs to get accustomed to doing is trying to find similarities between themselves and others, not differences. They need to try and identify with others and by doing so they will get to know themselves better.

Today, We Have A Choice - If you accept the explanation that addiction is a disease then you accept the fact that once you begin to feed your addiction by picking up that first drink or drug, you no longer have the choice of not using. Once you re-introduce the substance to your addiction, it is the addiction that takes over. This saying points to the fact that what you do have a choice about is that first drink or drug. Today, you have a choice. To use, or not to use. Tomorrow, after using again, you won't have the option of not using.

We Suffer From Alcohol-ISM Not Alcohol-Wasm - There is no cure for addiction. The faster that someone accepts that fact, the better off they will be in their recovery. We need to keep it in the front of our minds that we have the disease of addiction and we always need to be working on our recovery...it doesn't just go away with time.

Whenever You Fall, Pick Something Up - This saying is about making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. The most extreme case would be a relapse. But even reverting back to your old addictive thinking ways is a fall of sorts. What is important to remember about these times that we are down is that we need to get back up, and learn from our mistakes.

Bring The Body And The Mind Will Follow - You need to force yourself to stay active in your recovery. Whether that means going to AA or NA meetings or reaching our for help. Even if you don't feel like it, and your disease is telling you that you don't really NEED to go...just go. Once you get your body to where you need to be, your mind will soon catch up and benefit from it.

Those are just a sample of the many, many addiction recovery sayings. If you find yourself in some Church Basement surrounded by fellow addicts you can bet that you are going to hear at least one of those sayings being tossed around. But what is the reason for it? Some things have no actual definition but their meaning can be conveyed through the use of a story or a saying. I could ask you, what is love or what is spirituality. You wouldn't be able to give me a concrete answer but through stories or sayings, you would be able to get that meaning across to me.

This is why addiction recovery sayings are so important (although you will never catch me riding around with one of those sayings plastered to my rear bumper).