Does it take bravery to live life? It seems an odd question to ask because living is really the most simple task we are assigned as human beings on planet earth. We’re born. We live. One day, we die. The truth is honest and plain, but is the true trajectory of our time alive. Between the day we are born and the day we die, a lot of days happen and within those days many hours full of opportunity. Finding philosophical pondering about what it means to really live and what defines a life is easy to do because the idea of living is perplexing. What does really living mean? How does one way of living life differentiate from the other? Could living in one way mean more bravery than living in another way?
Take living in addiction versus living in recovery. Addiction is an endless cycle of surviving, desperately dodging symptoms of withdrawal at every cost required. Addiction is many things- a coping mechanism, a defense mechanism, a habit, and a routine. Breaking the cycle of addiction is hard. Keeping up the cycle of addiction is also hard, but becomes so familiar that the routine becomes easier to choose.
Recovery is hard work and asks us to live in a way which might never again inspire the brain or body to return to a state of addiction. Recovery asks us to live fully because living in addiction can be living in such an empty life. Getting sober and doing nothing with our lives is easy to do and dangerous to do. Choosing to live a full life of adventure, growth, progress, and experience, really takes more courage than we recognize. Millions of people who haven’t lived in addiction to drugs and alcohol live in addiction to their own routines and habits which prevent them from living life more fully. As men in recovery, we not only learn to live, but we learn to live fearlessly, having faced first hand the moment when our fears become our reality.
To live sober is to have the chance to live fully. To live fully is to live bravely. What we do as men in recovery takes courage and bravery beyond measure.
Tree House Recovery is a men’s treatment program in Portland, Oregon, offering men a unique way to recover. Inspired by the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest and the philosophies of proven recovery techniques, men create sustainable changes in their life, setting up a life without limitations. Call us today for information: (503) 850-2474
