Once the initial buzz of drugs and alcohol hit the brain, a person will lose their inhibitions and start enjoying the feelings of being high. The effects of the high with drugs and alcohol are often short-lived especially when the purpose is to feed an addiction. Any sort of happiness will become limited to focus only on avoiding reality or withdrawal by maintaining the needs of the addiction. Substance abuse takes the joy out of life many times, and with it goes away the smiles and laughter that are important for the human psyche. In the depths of addiction, there is not much to laugh about anymore, and misery becomes a part of everyday life.
Getting help for addiction can not only get a person sober, but it can assist in the pursuit of newfound contentment. When someone decides to get sober and work a program of recovery, they can take a turn for the better and start capitalizing on their gifts of sobriety. Many times, the trauma of the past leads to addiction which turns into addiction recovery, and then takes a turn into a sober purpose in life that someone had no idea was in store for them
A great example of a sober purpose is The Addicts Comedy Tour. This tour started years ago to bring humor to sober audiences that related to the trials and tribulations of addiction and recovery. The comedic focus was to use the darkest moments of the comedian’s lives as the material that they used was to crack up the audience during the show. Not only do they have a comedy tour that is like a 12-Step speaker meeting with laughter being the solution, but the comedians associated with this tour speak at 12-Step conventions, rehabs, prisons, or recovery fundraisers to share their colorful stories and communicate their experience, strength, and hope on a bigger stage with their prime audience. These funny comedians are using an opportunity to be of service to show others one laugh at a time that they could stay sober one day at a time by doing what they found they loved to do.
What is great about these comedians is that they did not let their addiction define them in a negative way. They pushed the envelope to broaden their horizons with sober chuckles to give back what was so freely given to them in recovery. Their sober purpose was to prove to anybody that would listen that laughter is the best medicine.