What’s in a name? Serenity Grove is our name, but why?
What does a “peaceful garden” have to do with drug and alcohol treatment in Athens, GA?
Serenity means peaceful, calm, or tranquil. According to Webster’s dictionary it is the quality or state of being serene; marked by or suggestive of utter calm and being unruffled by life. Sounds like the opposite of addiction. Matter of fact, the search for serenity is often a driver of drug and alcohol use, even though in truth it robs a person of peace and usually results in chaos and turmoil. If you are familiar with twelve-step programs you have heard of The Serenity Prayer, which was long ago adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous:
God, grant me the Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change…
Courage to change the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Why are alcoholics praying such a prayer? This prayer seeks the serenity found in the balance between acceptance and change. The first step of the twelve-steps has to do with acceptance or an admission that our addiction is beyond our ability to change by ourselves, our life has become unmanageable as a result, and our need for help. That sounds easy enough, but the human tendency to remain in control often overrides this logical step. To the observer of an addict it seems obvious that drug or alcohol use is causing turmoil, robbing both the addict and family of peace, destroying relationships, and unraveling the future. It is really hard to watch a loved one go down the path of self-destruction and therefore the Serenity Prayer is also encouraged for the friends and families of addicts.
Often the word struggle is used when describing addiction because of the battle and fight involved in trying to change in one’s own strength. If you are reading this now and are in active addiction you know exactly what that means. You want to stop using but can’t; you don’t want to hurt your loved ones, but you do; promises are made with full intention of being kept, but aren’t; the things you want to do, you don’t and the things you don’t want to do are the things you do; the struggle is real. Serenity is what you desire but can’t find it. Our drug and alcohol treatment center in Athens, GA is called Serenity Grove because that is your goal and ours. We seek to help clients embrace tools of recovery and address underlying causes that prevent long term sobriety. It’s a place where a person can escape the turmoil so they can heal and get on the pathway of peace. Acceptance, as expressed in the Serenity Prayer, is one of those tools. Honesty, facing yourself, processing the past, truth about relationships, and strategies for dealing with triggers are just some of the things worked on in groups and individual counseling. No two people are alike; therefore treatment and the path to serenity looks different for each individual. Gardens most often have a variety of plants and Serenity Grove has a variety of treatment options. Call 706-559-0059 to schedule a no-cost assessment today.
A Grove is a small wood, orchard, or garden of fruit bearing trees. It’s a place for growing, which is exactly what Serenity Grove is all about. It might sound cliché, but treatment is like a garden where seeds are planted and new life begins: your new life of recovery. The seeds planted in treatment are a long term investment, like a grove of fruit trees, not just a seasonal harvest. A garden requires cultivation, pulling weeds, protection from pests and pestilence, and of course fertilizer. These are all good pictures of what a new life of recovery requires. It sounds like work, you may have observed, but the harvest of serenity is worth it!
In the dead of winter when leaves are all gone, the skies are grey, and things are frosty, it’s easy to think all the vegetation is dead. But spring arrives and plants begin to bud, flowers emerge, and birds start chirping a song of hope and new life. That is why a treatment center has a name kin to a garden that yields fruit for years and years to come. There is hope if you will plant the seeds. Does it work? The Serenity Prayer has the answer: the farmer can’t make the sun shine, the rains come, or the plants grow, he can only plant the seeds and cultivate the garden. If he chooses not to because of the absence of a guarantee, he will never have a harvest. Plant a seed of recovery now and make the call to 706-559-0059 and schedule a no-cost assessment.
