What makes us happy? What gives us joy? What brings real comfort? How do we find peace? 

Most of us could have easily answered those questions at age three or four or five. But when was the last time we even stopped to consider them? 

One of the soul-stripping effects of any addiction is the way it rewires our brain’s reward center. That’s why so many people in recovery talk about rediscovering the joy of simple pleasures and the exhilaration of natural highs. They start paying attention to their energy levels and listening to their bodies. They start looking for things they can do each and every day to lift their spirits, things that not only feel good but are good for the body and mind and emotions and heart and soul. 

Once in a while that might be an ice-cream treat, but that’s okay. The next day a new recipe for a green shake might open up an entirely new world of tasty, nourishing delight. 

The world is absolutely brimming over with magical, incredible, beautiful, undiscovered or long-forgotten things and experiences that bring pleasure and joy.

Yes, beginning and sticking to a sober path can bring up a great deal of “stuff” that ranges from discomfort to serious misery. Not everyone feels immediately better and floats off on a pink cloud. Some of us might even need interventions like therapy or in-patient rehab or intensive out-patient rehab or a physician’s care with interim meds or any number of other helping solutions. We might be dealing with co-occurring issues like social anxiety or depression. But even then, even if the going gets rough for a while, we can still focus on finding and opening new windows where joy and pleasure and love and comfort and peace can come streaming in.

What makes us happy? What gives us joy? What brings real comfort? How do we find peace? 

And what happens to all of that when life turns suddenly sour or scary or heavy or sad? 

That’s where setting “happy” as our default will take a teensy bit of mindset tweaking and maybe some new skills. If you need a place to start, check out Awakening Joy by James Baraz and Shoshona Alexander. 

Happy trails today and let’s climb aboard the Sober Train together and pour green shakes all around and party like it’s 1969!  If you’re with me (and yeah, I know that most of you were not even around in 1969 but I was and we TOTALLY PARTIED DOWN DUDES!!), give me a high-five and a loud shout YES! 

 So much love, Maggy 

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This post is by MaggyM , the author of the blog Trying to be Fine and an active member of BOOM the private, anonymous community inside the Boozemusings website.

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