Motivation!! How are you motivated to get and stay clean??

[JVegas50]

Hello everyone.  I wanted to post this because I think it will help everyone, especially the new people that are trying to beat their addiction.  I believe it will also help someone that has beat the initial part of the detox or recovery and maybe need some kind of motivation to keep going.  Motivation!!...That’s the theme of this question \ post.  As you know, I am in the middle of opiate detox and the only way I am going to beat it is by being motivated to be clean and healthy.  I’m  also personally really motivated by the money that I will be saving.  If you know my story, you know that my addiction is Oxycondone.  I purchased all of my pills off the street and it cost me on average $120 a day = $3600 a month = $43,200 a year.  So I have put a few numbers in front of me for motivation.  On my desk at work I have the number that I have spent on pills which is about $80,000.  Also, every single day that I’m clean I add $120 to the list and total it up.  In the past 3 weeks, I have already saved $1680.  These are tools for me to stay motivated to quit.  Another thing I have done to motivate myself... I made a list of all the reasons why my life will be better without pills or alcohol or whatever.  I made a list of about 15 things.  The first one for me is: I do not want to die from pills. Second: I will have a ton of extra cash, etc.  
Motivation is one of the main factors of getting clean and beating your addiction…even more so, actually staying clean.   I would appreciate it if everyone would share what worked for them. If you had a system or some tools that worked or if you have any ideas of things that will help people get and stay motivated.  

I think this can really help a lot of people.  Maybe something that helped you will be the thing that gets someone through detox or maybe it gets someone like myself to quit forever. It could make a huge impact on someones life.
Thank you to everyone that responds.

[Bubbleguppie100]

Leave- what an incredible poem. Thank you so much for sharing!

[WAwantsherlifeback]

Vegas,,, MONEY is definitely a motivation factor for me two.. I spent about the same, maybe more, I never had my own scripts, but I never worked the numbers.. However, today is day 6 and I have $1500 in my pocket... LOL.. I always spent every penny on more pills after the bills were paid.. However, now I am going to send myself on a vacation when I hit day 30... AMAZING what THEY do to us.. Thanks for sharing

[annibelle48]

Thanks J for posting and sharing your great idea with us and thanks to everyone for responding so encouragingly. My incentives to stay clean and not take the evil little pills: every day is brighter, every feeling is deeper,  every sound is clearer, both of my sons say I sound better than I have for years, I'm no longer enslaved by the pills, taking one pill would put me right back at the worst of my addiction... We can never start back at ground zero... Ever, it's not possible... Most of all, I wake up with NO PAIN. Why would I ever willingly enter into that insanity again...?

[weaver71]

Along with the list of things I gain from not taking pills, I made a list of the things about me that I and others like. I try to feed my good character as best I can.

Another this was writing down all the good intentions I had over the years, yet pills made me fall short. I am trying to live up to those intentions a little more each day, week, month, etc... I always meant to be giving, yet I was a taker. I meant to be loving, but I had no heart. I meant to be there for my family, but I wasn't.

Probably one of the most important things for my 10 months of methadone detox was watching my expectations of myself and others. Keeping progress as the goal has helped me not to feel like I failed because I don't feel good yet or haven't done something yet. I get the rest of my life to work those things out.

Awesome post, I really love this way of thinking. Focus on what we are for rather than what we are against and it seems to work out better overall.

[mommymarieme]

That was a great post ariley!

[JVegas50]

Thats a great post :)  Thank you for sharing!