Wherever You Go, There You Are

If nothing changes, nothing changes. Simple, practical truth.

In addiction recovery, it is often strongly recommended that you change your "playmates, playgrounds and playthings," which is a reference to changing the places where and people with whom you spend time on a regular basis. This is a sound strategy, because you obviously cannot keep doing the same things the same way with the same folks and expect anything to be different. That's not to say that you have to totally turn your back on everyone from your past, but you do have to be mindful of both how and how often you are spending time with people with whom you used to "run around."

External influences can also be triggers; people, places, circumstances and experiences can all cause the proverbial switch to flip, and then that old familiar craving kicks in and you find yourself with only a few options for how to proceed. The more you can recognize those things and minimize their occurrence, the better your chances of avoiding a confrontation with your darker impulses.

The rub is that no matter where you go or who you are with, it is still "you" that you're ultimately having to deal with and keep in check. Your thought, words and actions are your responsibility and you are accountable for them. You are the constant in every situation in your life; with this in mind, you have to be willing to look to yourself first if things aren't going the way you think they should.

You also are the first (and last) line of defense against your own unhealthy thinking and have to be both self-aware and ready to self-correct. You have to be even more vigilant in this pursuit than you are in the effort to stay out of potentially difficult circumstances, because the key to surviving those circumstances clean and sober is right between your ears.

If you have yourself in the right mental and spiritual condition, you don't have to fear going into places or being around people that made your heart skip a beat in the early days of your recovery. If you don't, you must realize there's no place that is safe enough to save you from yourself. Your first responsibility is to yourself and your sobriety and you must act accordingly every time you're able.