When you have a goal you want to achieve, you're willing to sacrifice almost anything to reach that goal. For example, people who want to lose body fat may sacrifice junk foods.

When starting a business, the entrepreneur may give up stability and comfort to succeed, and this is to say, if you want anything in life, you will likely give up something to reach your goal.

The idea of making sacrifices applies to recovery too. The recovery journey comes with changes you don't want to make. You'll get to the root of the problem and learn healthy coping skills.

You may give up people, comfort, time, and other things to reduce your temptation to use substances. In this article, we'll review two sacrifices people make in recovery.

1) PEOPLE

Some people in recovery will say, changing your circle and group of friends is required to avoid drug use. You will hear people say they've deleted numbers from their phones to avoid "using buddies" or anyone that could tempt them to use drugs - which is essential.

Things become complicated when your goal is not to use alcohol, and your husband or wife drinks alcohol too. For instance, your partner keeps wine or beer in the refrigerator and can control their drinking, but you can't.

Would it be fair to your partner, roommate, or loved one not to drink alcohol in the comfort of their home because of your recovery?

Are you willing to ask your partner to remove alcohol from your home? And if they say no, then what?

I'm not encouraging anyone to separate from their partner to reduce their temptation to use alcohol or other substances, but this is a tough conversation to have with a loved one.

And what about your best friends? And roommates? You may have to limit your interactions with them or avoid them.

By doing so, you'll risk losing the people you've known for years and the people you've built memories with, and why would you want to do that?

That's a tough call to make.

2) Comfort

It's uncomfortable to talk about your drug use. There are so many labels and stigmas associated with substance use that some people will hide the problem and never seek help. Talking to a friend or loved one about your substance use requires courage and vulnerability.

Another option is seeking support from 12-step programs to connect with others in recovery. Suppose you go through the 12-steps of AA or NA; you will be asked to acknowledge your character flaws and make amends to the people you've hurt because of your drug use.

And doing this screams discomfort and pain.

For some, when you go below the surface, you see trauma, anxiety, and depression. These negative emotions and experiences may cause a person to use substances to numb their pain.

You've built up the courage to discuss the problem with a therapist, but you may be hesitant to trust your therapist out of fear of judgment.

These concerns are normal and expected; speaking to your therapist about them will make talking about your negative experiences and drug use easier to do.

Please contact me at info.therapyforchange@gmail.com if you have questions about your mental health and substance use.