Recovery is a serious topic and we have had a lot of serious discussions in our group about recovery. But one thing I thought we should discuss that we haven’t really covered yet is having fun in recovery. We’ve talked before about how recovery is a lot of hard work, and it is. We spend a lot of time facing and working through uncomfortable, and oftentimes painful, situations. Recovery is something that we have to fight for. If it was easy, everyone would do it. So what are we fighting for? We’re fighting for life, right? We come to recovery because things aren’t working out like we hoped. We come to recovery because we are struggling to make it on our own. So what’s the point of putting in so much effort if we aren’t going to enjoy the life we are fighting for?
As someone who used substances as a means of escaping life, I know the importance of building a life we don’t need to escape from. A lot of the things that many of us are in recovery for are things that other people do recreationally – such as drinking, smoking, or spending time with the opposite sex. I know many people who are leery about recovery because they think it’s going to be boring. In my experience with people like this, usually they have this fear because it’s the only way of life that they are familiar with. It is true that we are limited in what we can do in recovery. For example, I’m not able to go to the bar and drink with friends because this puts my sobriety at risk. But there is a world full of healthy activities I can partake in without this risk. And the truly beautiful thing is that when I partake in recreational activities while in recovery, I’m able to actually be present and enjoy them in a way that doesn’t exist when I’m high.
I’ve said before that recovery is a gift, and gifts are meant to be enjoyed. We work so hard to get healthy and create a new life for ourselves. Of course sometimes it’s challenging but we need that balance. We need to have joy as well as the sacrifice and hard work. Ecclesiastes 8:15 agrees with me. It says, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.”
God died for our sins. He didn’t offer us life so that we could spend it in misery – he offered us salvation so that we can live with joy in our hearts. It pleases God to see us happy and thriving. It pleases God to see us spending time in fellowship with other Chrsitians who love us and support us. John 15:9-11 says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Many of us have known a lot of pain and darkness. Some of us have struggled with mental health, some have struggled with abuse and other traumas, and some have fought terrible addictions. Recovery is a precious gift because we have the opportunity to come out of that darkness and into the light. We don’t have to live in fear or in pain anymore. Because of the gift of recovery, we have the opportunity to enjoy our lives. And this is something that we deserve.
– Sarah Gudmunson
