While it may seem otherwise, you CAN turn back.
Life doesn’t just happen. Rather, everything that happens does so because of the choices we make. The takeaway? We must exercise extreme caution because these choices often leave us with unintended consequences that shape the rest of our lives.
In matters of substance abuse, however, the line between choice and compulsion becomes blurred when what we originally wanted–and willfully chose–becomes a form of enslavement. There is a way out, however, and it’s the same way that got us in: Choosing a life free from the bondage of addiction isn’t easy, but it is possible.
Choices and Consequences
A lot has been said about the nature of consequence. American pastor and author Rick Warren wrote in his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, “You are free to choose what you surrender to but you are not free from the consequence of that choice.”
Meanwhile, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People scribe Stephen R. Covey offered a variation on the theme with, “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions,” while author Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.”
Clearly, there’s no shortfall of wisdom about the choice and consequence dynamic, and yet every day, people make bad choices that stay with them for the rest of their lives.
While the relationship between choice and consequence applies to almost every aspect of life, it’s particularly relevant when it comes to substance abuse. Why? Because while no one would actively choose the often devastating–and sometimes deadly–consequences of addiction, they’re very much foreseeable from the earliest moment bad choices are made.
A Different Kind of Consequence
It’s easy to get tripped up in bad consequences. But there are good consequences, too–the kind that comes from owning mistakes, accepting responsibility, and making the right choices. Unfortunately, many people struggling with substance abuse are unable to see the pathway to these choices, along with the positive outcomes they stand to gain from making them.
That’s where addiction rehabilitation can help. In addressing alcohol and drug abuse problems from both educational and process-oriented perspectives, Harris House aims to help patients across everything from disease theory to relapse avoidance. In doing so, its inpatient and outpatient treatment programs offer clarity that pathways do exist to the very best kind of consequence: addiction recovery.
Freedom from addiction is within your reach.
Just because you made one bad decision doesn’t mean the choice or right to make good ones has somehow been taken away from you. It’s still very much there within your reach, and the right substance abuse program can bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.
Rick Warren also wrote, “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” This is no truer than when it comes to substance abuse. Ultimately, we choose what we want to allow to into our lives.
We’re Here to Help
Contact us today to learn more about how Harris House can help you or a loved one discover the beauty in good choices, positive consequences, and freedom from addiction.
