An Identity Shift [1 film, 2’39”]
Gary experienced different types of recovery programme—12-Step recovery, person-centred recovery, and Christian-based recovery. But for him, the biggest game changer was physical activity and exercise. He goes on to describe how his friend Tim came around to his flat four weeks after his last relapse into drinking and dragged him to a running club. The run was awful!
‘It was cold, and it was wet, and it was muddy. And I was unfit. I didn’t even look like a runner, and I puked after the session. And I was like, “That’s me. Never again. I’m retired. I’m done from running.” But Tim, also a person in recovery, he knew a wee bit better. And he came around the following week. And with some gentle persuasion and a swift kick in the backside, I found myself back at the running club the following week.’
Gary found this run a little bit easier and he didn’t die! This was enough for him to go back again… and then again… and again He was soon attending the club regularly.
‘… my identity started to shift from being somebody struggling with addiction, to being somebody who focused on their health and who loved to run. And I was surrounded by people who saw me through this different lens, and that was refreshing for me because I had always been under the impression throughout my recovery that this long-term condition was going to follow me everywhere and be the defining thing about me. And it wasn’t. And then, of course, through the exercise, self-esteem, self-worth, self-confidence, all the things that addiction had stripped away over the years, started to come back. And I loved it.’