How long has it been since you were given a gift that really made you happy? Christmas came a little early at my house last night. With big families, blended families, and lots of travel, we just have to designate certain days for certain celebrations. Last night, my boyfriend and I celebrated with his sister and her family. His nephew, Mason is three years old. Mason is your classic, All-American kid with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that absolutely melts your heart. He’s also “all boy”: rough and tumble, footballs, baseballs, trains and cars. Mason is always full speed. After stashing some of the breakable items in the house and hiding the cat, we brought out Mason’s Christmas gift: a Little Tikes Basketball set. You know – one of those plastic basketball sets that stands about 4 feet tall, with the white backboard, yellow stand and red rim. One of those gifts that every little boy should have at one point in their life. With wrapping paper still all over the floor, Mason hit the hoops. Slam dunks. Long shots. Underhand tosses. The whole time saying, “You got this for me?” “This is mine?” “Can I take this home?” “I like it!!” I don’t have any kids of my own. All of my siblings and cousins are close in age. None of my close friends have children. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually seen a young child open a Christmas present. But it was even better than I could have imagined. There was so much joy, so much excitement, so much happiness. I couldn’t help but smile, laugh, and cheer as Mason ran around the Christmas tree with that little orange basketball. When was the last time you saw someone open a gift that made them that happy? When was the last time you had that much excitement? If drug and alcohol addiction has taken over your life or the life of a loved one, you may be approaching the holiday season with a sense of dread. Maybe you feel like you will never have that special holiday moment again. Maybe you believe that those types of moments are no longer possible in your life or in your family. If drug and alcohol addiction has taken over your life, you may feel full of remorse about how you hurt your family in the past. You may feel guilty about missing family celebrations, showing up high, or even pawning off gifts from other family members to buy heroin, oxycodone, or cocaine. Despite your best intention, you may have found yourself spending Christmas Day feeling full of shame for hurting the people you love. No matter the pain that you may be feeling this time of year, there is hope. And there is one perfect gift that you can give to yourself or to your family.
Getting drug or alcohol addiction treatment
Imagine waking up this Christmas morning knowing that you are doing the right thing. Imagine spending the holidays in a community where you feel supported and safe. Imagine knowing that your life is going into a new direction and you and your family will no longer hurt every holiday. At the holidays, when pressures and expectations build, our addiction treatment campuses will keep you away from the stresses of the outside world. You can have time to focus on yourself, your health, your happiness, and your sobriety. Rather than reliving disappointments of the past year or years past, take this time to press the reset button. Instead of having the season be a time to dread, transform it into a time of healing and renewal. By giving yourself the gift of recovery, you can reshape the way you and your family see this time of year. As we know, addiction doesn’t just destroy individuals, it can tear down entire families. Recovery, however, can heal the individual and strengthen the entire family. Do you want next year to be more or less a repeat performance of this one? If you are caught up in drug and alcohol addiction, you are not only likely to get more of the same, it is likely to get even worse. By getting treatment for your addiction, your disease, you will be pointing your life in a new direction so that next year – next holiday season – won’t be more of just the same. It is possible for a gift to bring the type of happiness that fills to whole room with joy, laughter and cheer. The gift of sobriety will be the greatest gift you’ve ever received, and the best you’ve ever given to your friends and family. If a little 4-foot tall plastic basketball hoop could bring that much excitement into a home, imagine what the gift of recovery could bring into yours. Sobriety is so much bigger and so much more important than any material gift. It’s something that everyone struggling with addiction deserves. And it’s something that will change your life and your family’s lives this holiday – and every single day to follow. If you’re ready to give the gift of sobriety, call 844-470-0410.
