The BALM Blog
See all postsLife in Recovery from Addiction
About 8 years ago, living in Lake Charles, Louisiana, I had a period of food recovery that was delightful. I was going to meetings, had a wonderful sponsor, and felt incredibly light and content, much as I do now.
For me, these periods of recovery from the blight of my food addiction over the years, have lasted anywhere from three months to ten years. Each had its unique sense of immunity and then, due to neglect of the ‘daily must’ attitudes and behaviors over time, faded away, only to be replaced by a sense of growing unsatisfied hunger, followed by over eating, followed by weight gain, discomfort, and one sort of illness or another.
During that peaceful period of abstinence in Louisiana, I remember making a decision that I wanted to die abstinent. It was a decision I didn’t make lightly. Yet, in the years of off and on relapse since then, I wondered how it would ever happen.
For people like me, with complicated addictions that require intermittent intake rather than simply stopping, as one does to get into alcohol or drug recovery, sustaining recovery can feel complicated and unwieldy. I have always said that the lucky thing about being a food addict is that you break out in fat, and so, your addiction is visible to you and everyone else. This additional bit of discomfort and public embarrassment, can create a greater motivation to deal with the challenge, though, without a solution that works, what good is motivation?
Today, I am grateful to have a new period of recovery that i am growing into, utilizing a 12 step approach, a serious food plan, and many ancillary ‘guard rails’ designed to help the recovering person sustain a recovery – based lifestyle.
I cannot speak for tomorrow, or pretend that I know what the future will bring.I just know that today, if I continue to be and do things the way that i have been taught to do them (again), I have another chance, perhaps my best chance thus far, to fulfill that decision (wish?) made so long ago, to die abstinent. And at age 67, soon approaching 68, I am increasingly aware that the years ahead of me are fewer than those behind me.
In my other addiction, that to others in my life who may struggle with addictions of their own, I have benefitted greatly from the teachings gathered in the program I wrote, The BALM Family Recovery Program. The principles and steps in that program have carried me through so many ups and downs in my life.
When the coaches in the BALM Program asked me about putting together a BALM program for the loved ones struggling or recovering from their own use disorders, I got pretty excited. About 30 of us got in a room in 2017 I think, and talked about each principle and how it applies to someone with a primary addiction of their own. The answers people gave in that circle (was it virtual or in person? Don’t even remember anymore) were profound. I recall Mark leading the conversation and LIsa taking notes. I gave her a chart with space for each principle.She jotted down points for each principle and together we turned them into slides that became the beginning of the 12 Principles for Individuals in Recovery that has continued to grow over the past several years.
One of the challenges for people in recovery today is that, along with the idea that there are multiple pathways to recovery, there are, in some ways, higher walls between the different pathways, so feeling ‘a part of’ can get complicated for abstinent only people, harm reduction people, people not sure where they stand yet, etc.
The good news is that in BALM everyone is invited and everyone is at home.
The only rule is to not come to a meeting engaged in your addiction or under the influence. Families, this isn’t a class we want people coerced into taking. Coming has to be a personal decision. Our grads number among people with multiple decades of recovery, those brand new, and those still struggling.
The BALM 12 Principles are indeed universal. When applied to any challenge you as an individual are facing, they can actually help soothe your process. For many of us, they are supplemental to whatever our primary recovery program is (whether group, therapy, coaching, etc)
The class is interactive and loving. Click here to join Lisa and me on Wednesday, January 22 at 8 pm to learn more about our approach and to hear from others who have walked the Loving Path as persons in recovery.
Once ready to join in, click here.
I will be assistant teaching the class with Lisa who has 26 years of recovery and 8 years experience as a BALM coach. We are here to answer your questions as you think about whether this class is right for you. Contact us through support@familyrecoveryresources.com and we will get back to you asap. And of course, if you come to introductory class on the 22nd, you can ask your questions there!
Best,
Bev Buncher 786 859 4050 bbuncher@familyrecoveryresources.com