May 3, 2021

It Works if You Work It: Recovery Takes Dedication

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Insights, Recovery
Looking Forward to Today

By now, most of us have heard the unofficial 12-Step program slogan: “It works if you work it!” Most newcomers to the rooms of recovery get an earful of this phrase after just about every meeting. It’s certainly thrown around enough that most of us stop really hearing it after a while. And we certainly stop paying attention to what it really means. The 12-Step program is nothing short of miraculous for so many of us who are alcoholics and addicts. Working the 12-Steps has changed most of our lives and turned them into something beyond our wildest dreams. However outlandish that sounds, it’s no exaggeration. It’s the truth for so many of us. So excuse us if we get too excited, but we were once dying from alcoholism and addiction just like you and every other newcomer. When they find the rooms of recovery, we want them to know this…

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April 30, 2021

Taking It One Day at a Time

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Insights, Recovery, Treatment
man-performing-yoga-on-beach-jaywalker

Pretty much everyone has heard this phrase at one time or another: “Take it one day at a time.” It’s advice that we might get at a yoga class, from a therapist, or a sympathetic friend. When we come into the rooms of recovery, we are likely to hear it more than ever before. Everybody seems to be saying it. It’s probably even on a plaque or sign somewhere in the meeting room. When we hear something often, and from multiple sources, sometimes we actually end up understanding it less. We subconsciously tune it out and ignore it without even thinking. We certainly don’t think about it or try to understand or bother taking it to heart. When something is repeated often, we start to take it for granted. “I hear it all the time, so we must all be doing it and know what it means. Right?” Not exactly….

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April 29, 2021

How Can I Be on My Own Team?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Mental Health, Recovery, Support, Treatment
men-talking-treatment-jaywalker

Many of us are blessed with a team of “cheerleaders” behind us. There are people in our corner, people who believe in and want the best for us, who will help us when we need it, and who trust us to learn our lessons and do our best. Strangely, so many of us take these people for granted, without even realizing it. Of course, there are people we feel the same way about. We’d do anything for them, and we love when they’re happy and successful and learning and growing. We might often fail to realize just how special this is, too. This is not a guilt trip, but it’s worth taking a minute to realize just what a stark difference this is from how life was in active alcoholism and addiction. If anybody were rooting for us, we’d long ago driven them away. People in our corner had to…

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April 27, 2021

Keeping the Human Being in Focus During Recovery Treatment

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

At Jaywalker Lodge, we firmly believe that recovery treatment is not about statistics or sterile medical environments. The disease of alcoholism and addiction affects the whole person and their whole life, every aspect of it. By necessity, the solution must be holistic as well. But we must remember that we are not simply treating a disease or leaning blindly on the most recommended methods. We are treating a living human being and helping a real person who suffers from a deadly disease. Even today that is often widely misunderstood. This concept may not seem like a drastic departure from other places that offer alcoholic and addiction recovery treatment. Frankly, we hope it’s not. But many of us at Jaywalker Lodge are in recovery ourselves, and what we do is a little different precisely because of that. We know what works, and we understand in ways that only those with personal…

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April 26, 2021

Health Management in Recovery

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Treatment

Just about everywhere we look these days, we are inundated with information about our health. There are thousands of new diet and fitness books every year, and trends seem to come and go daily. We see fitness influencers pitching wild products and intense new health “solutions” on television and social media. On top of all that, every few years, even the prevailing health science decree changes. Meat’s bad, meat’s good, meat’s wrong, eat only meat. Do high intensity, do low weight, only do cardio. On and on, the cacophony of noise from all the so-called health experts just keeps growing louder. So, what sense can we make from all this confusion and flavor-of-the-month misdirection? Logically, all we’re left with is the time-tested truths. What the “right” health advice is for any of us depends on many complex factors: our genetic history, our activity level, our nutrition, and even our attitude….

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April 25, 2021

We Believe #10: The Safety and Well-Being of the Group Comes Before Any Individual

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery, Treatment
men-staning-on-a-wall-jaywalker

At Jaywalker Lodge, we help men suffering from alcoholism and addiction — especially those who have found recovery difficult in the past. That’s where we got our name, after all: the parable of the Jaywalker found on page 37 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. This same book also gives us the 12-Step program, the foundation of recovery treatment at Jaywalker Lodge. We root ourselves firmly in the 12-Steps because they are proven to be successful at helping alcoholics and addicts find lasting, meaningful recovery. We know because we are Jaywalkers, and the 12-Steps are still working for us today. In addition to the 12-Step program of recovery, Jaywalker Lodge is guided by a strong system of beliefs about recovery and treatment. We do things a little differently here, and that’s because we let our heart and core values drive and inform everything we do. We have summarized our convictions into…

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April 24, 2021

Jaywalker Programs: Solutions, IOP & Sober Living

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery, Treatment
man-hiking-jaywalker

Jaywalker Lodge is about recovery. Our everyday focus is helping men who struggle with maintaining recovery find their way to lasting sobriety and happy new lives. We base all of what we do firmly on the 12-Step program of recovery. We have a thriving alumni community that remains active members of the Jaywalker family. We have a program for every man at every stage of his recovery. Wherever the road of destiny takes you, we’ll be there for you, and we’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re prepared for whatever comes your way. The Jaywalker experience begins at the Landing, where you receive a proper welcome. You learn about us, we learn about you, and we all get excited for the healing and joy that you’ll experience in your new life in recovery. Next comes the Lodge, where we really get into the swing of things. Here we’ll…

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April 23, 2021

Getting Your Life Back? Don’t Skip Meetings, Please!

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery, Treatment
male-halds-sitting-in-a-chair-jaywalker

It can all seem a little strange at first for those of us who are new to the rooms of recovery. However, most of us are so destroyed by alcoholism and addiction when we get here that we don’t care if it’s weird — we just don’t want to die. Many of us recognize that we’d rather live in recovery than die in our disease, so we start to do the things people in recovery do, at least a little. Of course, we usually don’t mind the “fellowshipping.” It’s not hard to hang out with other people who are a lot like us, at least in terms of our common disease and common solution. Fellowshipping isn’t too bad. We can deal with it. Then we find out there’s more. Do we need to go to meetings? Sit around and talk about our lives and feelings? Listen to other people? Share…

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April 22, 2021

I Think It’s Too Late For Me. Can I Really Start Over?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Lifestyle, Recovery
man-holding-head-in-hands-jaywalkerlodge

First things first — it’s never too late. If you’re still breathing, there is still time left. Don’t give up hope, and don’t give up on yourself. If you’re struggling with addiction, there is a solution — and it really works! Thousands of us have been where you are now, and we are happy and whole in our lives in recovery. As far as starting over goes, life is a series of restarts. The idea of having to “start over” paints a picture that beginning again is a bad thing. But the ebb and flow of life doesn’t work like that. Just look at nature: trees fall over and die, but from the collapsed trunk, a new tree grows. We’re lucky because we don’t have to fall over or die to start anew. We can do it right now, right from wherever we are. No, it’s not too late for…

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April 20, 2021

Everything Is So Different! How Can I Maintain Normalcy in Recovery?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery
man-walking-down-street-jaywalker

There’s no doubt that everything seems different, especially these days. It can be hard to find anything that feels like it used to. Not even running errands is the same, and we probably never thought we’d miss a casual trip to the grocery store! Most of us feel a constant longing in the back of our minds for things to “get back to normal,” whatever that may be. We just want regular life back. It’s very human to miss our routines and habits that have been disrupted, stopped, or permanently altered. After all, we are creatures of habit. Lots of Things Are Different, But Not Everything It may feel like everything is different, but it would do us some good to look at all this a little more objectively. Yes, more has changed in the last year than in the previous ten, and there’s no mistaking that. But daily, there’s…

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