- Image by fusiasa via Flickr
Leaving rehab is all about work. There is more than enough work to be done at home. There is the work of getting your life back together piece by piece. The job, school, money, and health come along with time and commitment and it isn’t something you can change in a day. However, there are other challenges to being clean and sober that are harder in practice than they seem in theory.
The problem at hand is the problem of the friends you were keeping before you went into rehab. When you were at the depths of your addiction your friends were changing. Those that loved and supported you probably felt distance from you because of your addiction. Those that were around were probably those that were suffering with their own addiction as well. Now that you are out, how do you deal with those people?
Friendship is important and there is no mistaking that but your sobriety is bigger and more important than all of that so it is paramount that those you associate with in your life are those that are committed not only to your sobriety but their own.
A friend who claims to still want to do drugs but is committed to your sobriety is fooling themselves and should not fool you. Addicts do not like to be the only user around. Misery loves company so it will only be a matter of time before they justify to you the idea of using again.
This will require you to be direct with them from the beginning. Once you get the opportunity to have a conversation with them you need to let them know how much your sobriety means to you and that if they aren’t going to be clean then you can’t be around them. This means not only using drugs, but having them in their possession. You must remove the temptation in your life whenever you can. If your friends can respect that then there is a chance for the friendship to continue. If not then you are better off without them.
