Beware Early Recovery Complacency

Complacency is something to be on guard for in every stage of recovery. However it is complacency during early recovery that I wish to address today. It is very subtle, dangerous and potentially lethal. The early stage complacency I wish to specifically address today, usually starts to creep in around the 9 month mark and progresses in greater or lesser degrees to around the 2 year mark. We have all seen the person who has been coming around regularly and has appeared to be growing and getting their life together then you stat noticing they are not around as often as they use to be, and that first year anniversary is coming just around the corner. Then it passes and you’re not seeing this individual or possibly you see them again only to hear that they are coming back. Back in the late eighties or early nineties, N.A. instituted an 18 month medallion and in some areas an 18 month cake. This was done because according to a couple of studies, it was noticed that 30% >40% of people taking one year cakes, were not around to take a second year cake.
These very sad occurrences have a twofold cause, which works in concert with each other. The first is a true sense of humility, which in turn creates a slow influx of complacency. Now let me elucidate on each of these, to give you a clearer picture of what I am actually attempting to show you. First of ; A True Sense of Humility, ah yes you know what humility means and understand the concept consciously or perhaps more pointedly in theory, however it has not seeped into your being or sub conscious as a knowing or a deep understanding. Let me paint a clearer picture for you at this point. Here you are you’ve been going to meeting, keeping in touch with your support system, doing the steps, and you’ve been clean and sober now somewhere between 7-8 months to around 22 months (anywhere in that time frame). You’ve made a lot of new friends in the recovery community you attend, you have been seeing your sponsor and support system pretty regularly, you haven’t had a craving in a while, you seldom even think about using anymore. Overall life has been looking pretty good lately, overall you’re feeling better about yourself and life as a whole, there are new dreams and possibilities in your thinking. People are saying how much better you look and/or how much you’ve learned. Somewhere in your thinking it starts, and you begin to ponder the thought that, yes you have worked hard and things are turning around, perhaps it’s time I’ve earned a little rest (red flag), it starts with maybe by letting go of commitments to perhaps your home group, (time to let someone else do it), or you slow up on meetings, just one less a week, you start seeing less of your sponsor and the rest of your support system. Or on a completely different angle, things are good it’s time I took care of the rest of my life, it’s time to catch up on all the “wasted time” concentrating on getting a life. I’m just being responsible and becoming a contributing member of society. However there is nothing wrong with this, we need to be responsible and be contributing members of society. But not at the cost of your recovery, if even more you need the support of the meetings and your support system.
There are several key points you need to remember at this stage of your recovery. First; that your disease, addiction, is not the drug, the drug is just the symptom. Your affliction centers in your mind, to put it bluntly, your head has a contract on your ass. Every moment you spent in a meeting talking with your support system working on your recovery, your addiction was in the parking lot doing push-ups just waiting for the slightest crack in your recovery to attack. Never forget this, it is not what you did yesterday for your recovery, it is what you do today.
Secondly: At this point you’ve in all reality have just scratched the surface, Yes it was hard work to get over the constant obsession and cravings and to change your regular routines of the past, however your new routines are basically just like posts in wet cement. They are there and standing, however the cement is far from setting at this point. If you have been to a few first year anniversaries, how many times have you heard it said “now the real work begins” do think they were just jokes. These are observations and telling’s from those who have been there. Now is when those friendships and trusts you’ve built with your support system are going to be the most valuable.
Thirdly. Yes it is time to change it up a little and take more responsibility and get back to life and a contributing member of society, after all this is one of the major goals of recovery. However we do not do this at the expense of our recovery. Go back to the post about habits, It is very easy at this point to transfer over to becoming a workaholic or overly concerned with relationships and getting a family. Remember all things with balance, at this crucial time as you go forward, you need to take extra effort to maintain meeting attendance in your schedule, as well as extra effort to maintain you connections with your support system.
Fourthly: You have to this point work hard and grown. You deserve the life that is happening for you at this point and more. This is why you need to bear down now for the work is not over, if you relax to much you will suffer dearly.

Remember God does not create garbage