Month: May 2021

May 30, 2021

We Believe #11: A Healthy Environment Is a Healing Environment

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Support, Treatment
empty chairs in a circle for therapy

At Jaywalker Lodge, we live by a code. Our core values are the heart of Jaywalker. We know the disease of alcoholism and addiction — and the solution found in the 12-Step recovery process — firsthand because so many of us live it in our everyday lives. This personal experience leads us to do things a little differently. Our beliefs inform everything we do, every decision we make, and every action we take. Over time, we have come to define our core values by 12 key beliefs. We set these beliefs both from our personal recovery experience and our time in the addiction recovery treatment field. Our core values are at the heart of everything we do. By sharing our beliefs, we hope you’ll get to know who we are at Jaywalker Lodge. And once you get to know us, we hope that you’ll see this is the right place for…

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May 29, 2021

Men’s Issues: Healthy Sex Conduct

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Alumni, Mental Health, Recovery
man-in-bed-sexual-health

If we’re an adult male of any stripe, the odds are good that sex is a pretty big part of our life. Especially if we’re a man in recovery for alcoholism or addiction, there’s a whole section of inventory just for sexual conduct. It’s clearly pretty important. It’s also a minefield for a whole mess of reasons. Heartbreak. Emotional attachment. Love. Sex. Relationships. Children. Marriage. And many, many more. What makes it all the more confusing is that each of us has our own personal idea of what’s right and wrong, what’s ideal, and what’s a dealbreaker. Generally, most people don’t want to be alone, but some people aren’t ready to settle down. What if we like someone who doesn’t like us back? What if we like too many people at the same time? What if we’re lonely? The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous has this to say: “We do…

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May 27, 2021

The Best Ways To Deal With Being Overwhelmed

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Mental Health, Support, Treatment
man-walking-outdoors-looking-back

As much as we’d all like it to be, life is not always smooth sailing. Sometimes things just happen. Maybe it’s bad timing, perhaps we just got behind little by little, or it could just be too much all at once. Being overwhelmed is a normal part of life. And it happens to everyone, whether we’re an alcoholic or addict or not. When it happens, we don’t have to just wait it out, lose our center, or collapse under pressure. We can keep helpful things in mind and take actions to weather these periods of being overwhelmed with a bit of calm and even some peace. No matter how overwhelmed we might be, we must remember that it will pass. Our recovery gives us the tools to weather any storm and turn every painful experience into something that can help others. Am I Overwhelmed? Being overwhelmed can look a lot…

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May 26, 2021

What Will Life Be Like in Recovery?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Insights, Recovery
man-hiking-happy

This is one of the most common questions we have as newcomers: what will life be like in recovery? We all want to know what’s going to change. Everything can change in recovery, but what changes is primarily up to us. Are we willing to do things differently? It’s going to be what we make of it, but it’s going to be better by default — as long as we’re willing to do the work and stay the course. So, what will life be like in recovery? It’s still going to be life. Some things aren’t going to change much. We’ll still need to work and have shelter, friends and family, and hobbies. Sometimes things will go well, and sometimes they’ll go differently than we’d like them to. There will be joy, heartache, surprise, chaos, routine, etc. Life will still be life. Recovery offers us a daily chance to be free of our…

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May 23, 2021

Beyond the Obvious Benefits of the 12-Steps

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery, Treatment
man standing in rushing water on steps

It’s no secret that the 12-Step program of recovery is by far the most effective, holistic, and successful method of treating alcoholism and addiction for both the short and long term. Simply put, it really works! For alcoholics and addicts seeking freedom and recovery from their deadly disease, there is practically nothing else that works as well, as often, and as beautifully as the 12-Step program of recovery outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. This solution involves a course of spiritual action, frequent recovery meetings with the 12-Step fellowship, and being of service to both the recovery community and humanity as a whole. When it comes to alcoholism and addiction, nothing works like the 12-Steps. However, there are additional disciplines that can helpfully augment the 12-Step program. Therapy, psychology, spirituality, physical health, and medicine all have much to offer those in recovery to increase the benefits and beauty of the 12-Step…

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May 22, 2021

How To Reconnect to Our Purpose

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Alumni, Recovery

Purpose is a big word. The greatest minds in history have been trying to answer this question for ages. But for alcoholics and addicts like us, purpose may be a lot easier to come by than we thought. What Is Purpose? The dictionary defines the word purpose as “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.” It’s very common and very human to seek purpose. We want to know the purpose of our existence — the reason why we’re here. We want to know the reason why we do the things we do. We want to understand the purpose of all that we do and all that we are. There are many other seekers of purpose who have taken their best guess at the reason for existence. Some find it in religion, others in science. Some find purpose in giving, others in achieving. There are…

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May 21, 2021

Outside Issues: The Importance of Exercise in Recovery

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Insights, Recovery
man-outside-running-listening-to-music

If you’re new to recovery, or even if you’ve been around a while, you probably feel like you already have enough to do every day, every week, and every month. Can we possibly add another thing to the list? If it wasn’t beneficial, we might not bother. But neglecting our physical health in our recovery can be harmful in a myriad of ways. It’s true; we already have plenty to do: work, school, family, relationships, hobbies, meetings, 12-Step work, service work, meals, errands, chores. The list goes on. But let’s be realistic — these things are part of most people’s everyday life. And the efforts we make towards growing and improving our recovery pay infinite dividends, so we’re well-rewarded. But what if there’s an area of our lives that we neglect because of our busy schedules? And what if paying attention to this overlooked area actually improved our lives? That…

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May 19, 2021

How Can I Deal With My Guilt?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Insights, Recovery
man-walking-trhough-woods

Guilt is something that we all experience, no matter who we are. Whether it’s caused by something in our past or present, everyone will experience guilt at one point or another. Guilt is a natural thing to feel, but it becomes destructive when it lingers beyond its usefulness, follows us everywhere, weighs us down, or causes new problems. Guilt can serve a purpose but can also quickly get out of hand and begin to cause issues of its own. Many alcoholics and addicts have experienced guilt over something that happened in our disease. Maybe it was something we did, or maybe it was something we didn’t do. Maybe it was something that happened to somebody else, and we blame ourselves because our disease kept us away from them. Whatever the source of our feelings of guilt, most alcoholics and addicts experience guilt in early recovery. We regret our lives and our…

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May 16, 2021

The Power and Impact of Caring

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Insights, Recovery

It isn’t difficult to find recovery treatment organizations that actually care about the people they help, but it’s not as easy as it should be either. Actual caring is more than just words. We can say we care and even look like we care without much effort. But true care is evident in the actions we take — it’s something you can feel. As caregivers in the field of recovery treatment, it is incumbent upon us to demonstrate our degree of care in everything we do. Recovery has long been a minefield of misinformation, easily falling prey and being reduced to statistics, demographic restriction, and revolving-door treatment models. This is partly because the disease of alcoholism and addiction is among the most commonly misunderstood diseases affecting people today. Even with all the advances in science and medicine we currently enjoy, the nature of the disease and how we recover from…

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May 15, 2021

9th-Step Promises and the 9th-Step Funk

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Alumni, Mental Health, Recovery
man-walking-outdoors-looking-back

For those who have spent even just a little time in the rooms of recovery, we are aware of the 12-Steps. Hopefully, we’ve gotten ourselves busy and started working on the 12-Steps with our sponsor. That’s all we need to find freedom and recovery — a copy of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, a sponsor, and honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness. That’s truly all it takes to change our lives! It’s also likely that if we have begun the 12-Step process, we have heard rumors or people’s opinions about what the journey will be like. We may have heard that the 4th-Step is difficult or that the 1st-Step must be perfect. We hear lots of things. It’s always helpful to keep in mind that if it isn’t written in the Big Book, then we need to take it with a grain of salt. When it comes to the 9th-Step, we…

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