What is a Higher Power and How do You Find It

One of the biggest hurdles for newly sober addicts and alcoholics just leaving inpatient treatment is grasping and developing their own conception of a Higher Power. Many of us come from situations or families where we have been handed an image of what that Higher Power should look like, and let’s be honest, it rubs most of us the wrong way.  So, when we are faced with the decision to either surrender to a spiritual way of living or suffer until we die, how can we drop the resentment and discover our Higher Power? First, forget what you know As was previously mentioned, most of us come in here with preconceived notions of what is right, what is wrong, and who or what God is. Many of us feel abandoned by the God we were raised with, and some of us never even had one, to begin with.  When we want to develop a NEW relationship with a Higher Power, because we have been told by others that it worked for them, we have to forge our own path. Whether it means straying from what we have known or walking towards it, the point is that we are making some sort of contact.  From one agnostic alcoholic addict to anyone who cares, here is what I did: Cherry-pick what you like from other religions and beliefs, forget what you don’t  Lean into new avenues of “spirituality” that you are curious about Ask people you trust about their Higher Power, and how they found there’s Use the rooms and the fellowship as your Higher Power until you feel comfortable finding your...

How to Deal with Depression in Sobriety

When we finally put the plug in the jug, or the cap on the rig, or the… bill back in the wallet (?) we never believe that working the 12 steps will free us. We only know the pain and torture that we have felt for so long.  We look around at all of the happy faces in the rooms and hope that it will happen for us too. Until we start working the steps and getting solid, we can often feel crazier than before.  Let me make you a guarantee, it won’t stay like that forever.  When Depression Strikes A majority of the people in the rooms of 12 step fellowships have struggled with depression, both in and out of sobriety. It just tends to be that way with us, we feel deeply, and we tend to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, even if we are the ones who put it there. So what happens when we are trying to stay sober, but still struggling with depression? It happens all the time, to thousands of clean and sober members, yet it can still feel really isolating.  Coming from someone who has struggled on and off with varying levels of depression in sobriety, here are tools that I have gathered both through experience, and the experience of others. I would like to mention that all of these tools are meant to be used in conjunction with working the steps, talking to a sponsor, and going to meetings.  Keep Talking As terrible and impossible as it can sometimes feel, what we often need most is to just...