International Addiction Recovery Day

Below you’ll discover what International Recovery Day is, what the goals of this day are, and how you can choose to celebrate it.

As you may know, September marks National Recovery Month. This is a time for anyone in recovery to honour the immense strides they've made as they navigate the powerful journey of recovery from addiction.

All across the country, people who have been impacted by addiction either themselves or via loved ones come together to celebrate recovery. National Recovery Month is filled with rallies, recovery walks, and a myriad of events hosted by people across the Nation.

However, when Coronavirus hit in 2020 and the pandemic swept the globe, the events of recovery month came to a screeching halt. But, as anyone in recovery knows, through the darkness we can always find a light.

For the first year ever, a worldwide commemoration of addiction recovery is being honoured through a virtual celebration on September 30th. This day is now known as International Recovery Day. International Recovery Day is a first-of-its-kind global event that connects people in recovery and their loved ones from all across the world.

The goal of International Recovery Day

Whenever we hear about addiction, especially in the media, we hear about the darkness. The stigmas and the perils become highlighted. The pain that addiction causes for those suffering as well as their loved ones become the focal point.

However, we seldom hear about the other side – about recovery.

Unless people have experienced it themselves or have witnessed loved ones going through it, it can be truly difficult to grasp the immense vulnerability, sheer determination, and deep-rooted conviction that it takes to overcome addiction and transform through the recovery process.

Addiction recovery is not for the faint-hearted. Those that achieve long term sobriety, usually have done so by applying themselves daily to a recovery programme. Additionally, they will have usually undergone an immense amount of internal work to bring about the transformation necessary to recover from addiction.

This is no small feat and is something that should not only be acknowledged but should be profoundly celebrated.

International Recovery Day allows the entire world to come together on one special day to honour the incredible people who have battled their addictions and are in recovery. Whether someone has been in recovery for 10 years or 10 days, this is a time to honour and celebrate the hope that there is a life beyond addiction.

Below are just a few of the goals of international recovery day:

• Unite people around the world to celebrate recovery together
• Reduce the stigma associated with addiction and recovery
• Showcase how widespread and diverse the recovery community is
• Shift the focus on addiction from “the problem” to “the solution”
• Unite millions of people in recovery across the globe
• Offer hope to those still battling addiction
• Celebrate loved ones who are in recovery
• Connect individuals from all pathways of recovery
• Allow those in recovery to reflect on the growth and healing they’ve experienced to get to where they are today

How to celebrate International Recovery Day

If you’re interested in celebrating International Recovery Day, there are many different ways to get involved.

If you head over to the International Recovery Day website, you can register for their free online fireworks event. During this event, people from across the globe will launch virtual fireworks together to celebrate recovery. You can also upload your recovery story to be shared around the globe.

Additionally, monuments around the world are lighting up in purple, the colour for recovery awareness. Some of these monuments include Niagra Falls and the Ben Franklin Bridge. Over 80 monuments across the world are participating!

As the colour for recovery awareness is purple, you can also wear purple clothing or don a purple ribbon on International Recovery Day to show your support and celebrate recovery.

Furthermore, if recovery strikes closer to home, you can reach out to those you know who have battled addiction. This is a wonderful time to share kind messages of support, pride, and love with them.

You can take to social media, and share messages of healing and hope. You can help to reduce the stigma associated with addiction, simply by speaking about it and sharing that you’re honouring International Recovery Day.

How we at Recoverlution are celebrating

At Recoverlution, a platform for those in recovery created by people in recovery, we will also be joining in the celebrations.

We will be celebrating International Recovery day by:

• Wearing the colour purple to mark the colour of recovery
• Sharing our stories, including Paul Merson’s
• Attending the virtual firework display
• Raising awareness through our ambassador Paul Merson
• Our founder Daniel Fincham will be sharing his story to the International Recovery Day website

Recoverlution is passionate about shining a light on the recovery world. Join us in our celebrations and know that you are not alone!