National Recovery Day: A Message From A Friend

Good morning, Cadre family. I'll give you guys a second to jump in. Whoever is going to jump in on this glorious Friday, the last Friday of the month, my birthday month, and it was a beautiful month. I love September. I love the turning of the seasons. And even though I'm in Arizona, we don't get all the seasons that so many other people are lucky to have. I do know that the weather is starting to turn everywhere, and I just, like, love this time of year. So I will go ahead and get started. Today is national Recovery Day, and although I am not recovering from drug or alcohol or behavioral addictions, I do know what it's like to be in the network of people who are.

And this day was first observed in September, on the 30th, back in 2012, and it has been celebrated every September ever since. And it's really just a day to demonstrate and celebrate the ability of those who are struggling with drug, alcohol and behavioral addictions to achieve a long term sobriety journey and live just healthy and productive lives. So it is an important day to observe. And for those of you who are struggling in those areas, I just want you to know I see you. One of my best friends of the last ten years is in an everyday, uphill battle with alcoholism.

And I feel like it's so easy for us to say, celebrate the joyous occasions that are happening to our friends all around, like weddings and baby showers and birthdays and all of the things that are traditionally celebrated on the calendar. But here at Cadre and just out there in regular everyday life, every day isn't always a joyous birth or a celebration of joy. It's a celebration of overcoming, achieving, waking up, getting up on a day that might be incredibly difficult to wake up on and making it through that day.

And as somebody who is in the support system of somebody who struggles with recovery on a daily basis, I have to celebrate him in different ways. And I have to consider that his life is different. My life is different. I am a single 41 year old woman who hasn't had a wedding or a baby shower to celebrate. So I feel this in a lot of ways, but I think today is a really important day to show your support for people who are struggling in this area. And there are so many ways that you can do that. You can text them, tell them that you love them.

Out of nowhere. It doesn't even have to be, hey, happy national Recovery Day. You don't even have to call attention to it. You can call them, because so often we forget that a simple phone call can be the difference between life or death. You can send them a card and let them know. Like, hey, I just want you to know I see you and I'm here for you. And if there's anything that you need or what does support look like for you, I can provide that. I love that term. What does support look like for you?

Maybe you take them out for coffee unexpectedly. I just think that days like today are a beautiful way to remember that people are going through something every single day. It doesn't even necessarily have to be an addiction. But showing your support to someone in days like this remind me that one simple phone call, text, coffee, date, walk can be the difference between really going downhill and really surviving. And I just. As a friend of somebody who struggles with this daily, I've been on the other end of those middle of the night phone calls before I've been there, and I know a lot of us have.

The struggle is daily, no matter if they have five days of sobriety or 35 years of sobriety, and everyone's support system looks different. So I encourage you on a day like today to take five minutes out of your day away from your busy schedule and reach out to a loved one that you know is struggling, because your phone call and your message to them is everything that they need right now. You just might not know it. They might be suffering in silence. And it's our duty as a support system not to tell them how to be sober and not to try to solve their problem, but to show our support in the smallest way possible.

The same way that we show our traditional support for everyone who is going out and having babies and getting married and having a birthday, it's the same thing. So I encourage you to take today. It's Friday. We're going into the weekend. That might be really hard for people suffering with behavioral or drug or alcohol addictions. These are the times when people feel the most alone. So I encourage you today on this beautiful Friday. It's sunny and beautiful here in Arizona, and I feel so grateful to be alive.

Not everyone might be feeling that way. So go out, make a phone call, send a text, invite somebody to coffee, hop on Instagram stories if you have a platform. And talk about today. Let's talk about how important these days are and show our support however we are able to. I love you all. I'm so glad you're here. As a part of the Cadre family, we're here to break down all the barriers of communication and let people know that they're not alone. And alone looks so different for so many people. So we are so, so glad that you're here as a part of our community, as we're growing, as we're changing, as we're evolving, and as we're doing the best we can to provide the most amazing content and support system for you all out there.

So happy Friday. I love you all, and thanks for tuning in.