WHO: I am the proud mother of four amazing sons ages 15, 18, 23 and 26. and a beautiful daughter who is 21. I am the grateful grandmother of two grandsons ages 2 and 4. I am the daughter of a Pastor and psychologist (my beloved Mother) as well as a career military veteran and educator. I am currently employed as Adult Peer Services Team Leader for a local mental health agency. I was previously employed as Program Assistant, Case Manager and eventually Intake Case Manager for a local drug and alcohol treatment facility from 2010-2015. I am a person of immense value, passion, sense of humor and concern for all. And I also happen to be a person who has personal lived experience dealing with substance abuse issues as well as anxiety and mania (mental health challenges).
WHAT: My story is not an uncommon one, but it is uncommon to share boldly! I purpose to share boldly and no longer suffer in silence!
WHEN: At this point in my life I am able to share freely and boldly first and foremost because of my faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Revelations 12:11 KJV "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death"
WHY: The "they loved not their lives unto the death" for me means that I am not ashamed of the things I have been through! Actually, I am sharing boldly, shouting from the proverbial rooftop that yes, I struggled with crack cocaine addiction! Yes, I am dealing daily with mental health challenges! Yes, I was out of my children's lives for many years as a result of those issues! Yes, I have been married and divorced three times! BUT GOD! I am still here despite those occurrences and much, much more! I AM STILL HERE! The fact that I am still here is the reason why I MUST share because there are many people that I have known and you have too who are no longer here so I have purposed to not only be an advocate for all things recovery related but more importantly to become an activist who is not ashamed of the issues I have overcome. By sharing and being vocal, my hope is to encourage and empower others to not only realize they too have a voice but for them to utilize the platform they have based on their area of influence to help someone else!
WHERE: EVERYWHERE.....On my job, at my church, in the grocery store, online, ANY AND EVERYWHERE!!!
Bama Recovery Girl was birthed from a deep desire to no longer suffer in silence, but to instead share boldly the trials, tribulations, mistakes, addictions, and issues that I have not only encountered and dealt with but more importantly that I have overcome on my recovery journey. I realized that the picture that many of us have of what any type of recovery is supposed to look like is not accurate or realistic. I point out any type of recovery because this new perspective fits them all. Whether it is recovery from a medical procedure, childbirth, surgery, drug addiction, mental health challenges, divorce or ANY occurrence in your life that you are recovering form in any way, we all have an idea of what that specific recovery looks like. It is only after we experience something that looks or feels different than that initial expectation that we come to the conclusion that either something is wrong with me or that this is indeed my recovery journey and if I had been aware that it could and would differ from the cookie-cutter recovery I anticipated it would have saved me and others from that rocky, uncomfortable period.
After years of attempting to recover from too many things to list (I will list them later) I recently came to the realization during a lightbulb moment that the recovery I was expecting was not the recovery that I was living on a daily basis. After discussing this with others in mental health and substance abuse recovery I realized they had the same experience.
There were/are days when we may struggle to take a shower or get out of bed but that is still recovery! There are times when we are able to get to work but aren't as productive as we would like to be, but that is still recovery. There have been times when working a full eight hour day is easy and other times when it seems impossible- still that is recovery. I have experienced this as have others who I interact with often.
So if there are many pathways to recovery in general, it makes sense that there would also be as many different faces of what recovery is as there are people in the world. Now our focus is on supporting each other no matter how someone's recovery looks! And allowing ourselves the same grace that we so freely lavish on others! If you have experienced a shift in your personal view of recovery, please share with us so that we can strengthen each other on our personalized recovery journeys. I would also love to see individuals from all walks of life who are dealing with various types of recovery coming together to discuss the many similarities, thereby creating a truly authentic, all-inclusive recovery community made up of recovering drug addicts, alcoholics, mentally challenged, postpartum moms, moms-to-be, newlyweds, divorcees, single moms, grief stricken, first time parents-biological and adopted, college students, grad students, clinicians, etc......EVERYONE AND ANYONE who would like to share, anonymously or not, what their recovery journey looks like and embrace that! no matter what you are recovering from the basics are relatively the same and the fact that your recovery does not look exactly like Susie Q' s recovery IS NOT ONLY OKAY BUT IT IS TO BE EXPECTED!!!!!
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