RECOVERY DURING A PANDEMIC

Being in recovery myself, you’d think that this pandemic due to COVID-19 might affect my sobriety, as well as my sanity. I don’t think this is necessarily the case. In my personal experience, recovery is about growing and improvising to life’s constant change and challenges, whether it be a death to a close friend or family member, financial hardship, relationship issues, or a global pandemic. 

Today I find solutions in something other than drugs and alcohol no matter what the issue is. Sometimes just accepting what’s going on in life is a peaceful and spiritual experience in itself.

For years I spent life not fulling experiencing emotions and situations, and now some of the odd benefits of sobriety is “embracing the suck”. For me that means a change in perspective, not “I have to deal with this” but, “I get to deal with this”. So much in our lives is taken for granted due to our busy lifestyle of “go, go, go” or the robotic-ness of “eat, sleep, work, repeat.” How many of us took a simple thing like “going to the office” and a “tension and relief” experience of going and coming to work for granted? How will we perceive all this? is it horrible, and is the sky falling?

Or will we use this time to slow down and experience the little things we’ve been too busy for? Or maybe the opposite, will we use it to get things done around the housewe’ve put off for weeks, months, or maybe even years. How will you handle the pandemic?

IT’S ALL IN YOUR PERSPECTIVE. 

WRITTEN BY:

Caleb Klusmeyer

Peer Recovery Support Specialist and Case Manager