In the 12-step method of addiction recovery, one of the most important steps that gets highlighted is that an addict surrender themselves to a higher power. This can be a tricky step, as admitting oneself to a higher power is something that many people tend to resist. However, this is a crucial step towards enlarging one’s perspective about their addiction and what their place is in the world. Here are some reasons why a higher power empowers recovery…
Admitting powerlessness
The main thing that comes with embracing and surrendering to a higher power is that people are letting go of the control that they feel that they have. An important step of moving through recovery is accepting that you aren’t in full control of yourself. Addiction negates personal control. For this reason, placing that control in the hands of a higher power helps you build a stronger foundation to lift yourself up on. In a strange way, relinquishing that self-control gives you more of a step up on regaining self-control.
Surrendering to help
Addiction, at its core, is largely about isolation. Substance abuse has a knack of alienating addicts from the very people who will help them in recovery, which creates a self-perpetuating cycle. The acceptance of a higher power helps negate this effect of addiction, since a higher power means that one is never alone. The strength of companionship that a higher power not only builds up a person within themselves, but also serves as a source of companionship with other people in an addict’s life.
What can a higher power be?
Typically, many people find their higher power in a spiritual and religious sense, by giving their whole selves to God above. However, an atheist or agnostic who struggles with addiction doesn’t need to convert to a religion to find their higher power in recovery. The belief and acceptance of a higher power can translate more symbolically than people realize, and can resonate in things such as family and companionship, among other things.