Using our “using dreams”
“Do we fully accept the fact that our every attempt to stop using or to control our
using failed?”
Basic Text, p.18
The room is dark. Your forehead is bathed in cold sweat. Your heart is racing. You
open your eyes, sure that you’ve just blown your clean time. You’ve had a “using
dream” and it was just like being there-the people, the places, the routine, the sick
feeling in your stomach, everything. It takes a few moments to realize it was just a
nightmare, that it didn’t actually happen. Slowly, you settle down and return to
sleep.
The next morning is the time to examine what really happened the night before. You
didn’t use last night-but how close are you to using today? Do you have any illusions
about your ability to control your using? Do you know, without a doubt, what would
happen once you took the first drug? What stands between you and a real, live
relapse? How strong is your program? Your relationships with your sponsor, your
home group, and your Higher Power?
Using dreams don’t necessarily indicate a hole in our program; for a drug addict,
there’s nothing more natural than to dream of using drugs. Some of us think of using
dreams as gifts from our Higher Power, vividly reminding us of the insanity of active
addiction and encouraging us to strengthen our recovery. Seen in that light, we can
be grateful for using dreams. Frightening as they are, they can prove to be great
blessings-if we use them to reinforce our recovery.
Just for today: I will examine my personal program. I will talk with my sponsor about
what I find, and seek ways to strengthen my recovery.