Many people living in one day at a time recovery know everyday brings hope. We don’t have to feel, experience, or absolutely understand how we have hope. It’s not a matter of faith, trust, good deeds, or anything that we have done that merits us this reality. There is hope everyday because of pain, sickness, death, and tragedy. It is because chains, terror, cruelty, and ill will supersede any act of decency or kindness. It is because want gets twisted into greed, addiction, and to the very least obsessive want. It’s because life gets so selfish we don’t even care enough to share the air that we breathe or the water that we drink. It’s because we wage war with our neighbors because we want what they have or they are a threat to our sanctimonious belief of ourselves, our God, and our society. Everyday we awaken we know this pain, this wrong, and this truth. We shed the tears, we heave the sighs, we sob the sobs, and we know the dark deep days of depression. But still we sing, we smile, we work, we laugh, and we can be exceedingly grateful. People marry or form unions of togetherness. Kindness and charity is a part of our lives. Children are born and they sing their funny rhymes. And even poets can smile. What else could we do but believe their is hope everyday. Hope is because it has to be. It’s a kin to love. There is no other reality.
May a smile be and warm your heart
And your God embrace your soul,
As the year unwinds may it bring you peace
And a life content and whole,
As the days pass by let your love be brave
Be your nights be filled and true,
May your path be free this coming year
And your health be good to you.
Be your burdens hushed with a simple wish
And your debts be swept away,
May life welcome you so fond and free
And never may you stray,
Let a door be ope’ to step inside
With prosperity to share,
Let a sunny day fulfill your wants
May you always show you care.
May your kin just always love you
Be your friends forever near,
Let your mornings be a blessing
From the angels you might hear,
Let you drink of nature’s kindness
Finding magic moments real,
Simply life is for your living
With the joy that you can feel.
This is a poet’s blessing
With a simple written poem,
For you this Sunday morning
May your God protect your home,
Today and in the new year
May your roads pass straight and true,
Let the world always be your friend
For this blessing is for you.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of kindness. What kindness is to many of us, and is a reality of one day at a time recovery, is when we are safe, we stand on our own two feet in regards to being responsible for our own recovery. Kindness is being a helping hand. It is not, for lack of better words, retarding our limited independences. We all need support. Especially when choosing to live a life of recovery. Life is not always easy. If we are kind we will tell others the truth. We do struggle at times but enabling us to live in our addiction keeps us sick. In active addiction we cannot be reasonable and we cannot understand the concept of being reasonably happy, honestly joyous, and then ultimately free. Teach us not to be our own worst enemy. We have to become responsible. Be kind. Peace.
Those of us who have been living in one day at a time recovery for a fairly long time find that it is fascinating to watch relatively new people grow after they have been in recovery a year or two. When we are not critical of these people we can see the miracle is happening. We see this as we visit and participate in the rooms of recovery on a regular basis. The miracle we witness is the dead rise, the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear. As witnesses, and as participants, the miracle happens to us too. Our reality is we walk upon the earth and that we live good and happy lives because of the realities of grace and one day at a time living. Slaves have become free. We gratefully learn the reality of humility. It’s fascinating to watch. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery understand when we are practicing being resilient in today we are creating hope for tomorrow. When we are living as resilient people there is a determination growing within us that brings a familiar strength that pushes us to keep going, and keep growing, in order that we can face adversity, while being capable of remaining abstinent one day at a time, today. This is the reality of hope which we lived yesterday, live today, and will live tomorrow. Our experience teaches us that life is a doable and inviting place to be when we practice becoming resilient while living in today. Resilience and hope happen before we even know it. They are gifts. Peace.
Those of us who live in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of exacerbating financial problems caused by careless spending. This happens to those of us who have difficulties sticking to a budget and putting money away for a rainy day. It also happens to those of us who have never really learned the reality of saying no to ourselves. Reality for most of us is that our incomes are not geared towards dealing with the exacerbating problems caused by careless spending. Two such problems are the stress and disappointment that occur because we are flat broke as soon as we get paid. The sad thing is that some of us who are now living in one day at a time recovery simply switched to or got caught up in a new addiction. We are being driven towards the buzz of spending. There is no perfection in life but there is progress. One day at a time recovery can and will teach us this. Most of us learn the hard way. It is a new found reality in life and it’s a challenging part of living in one day at a time recovery. We are soon to understand. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery know what it is like to be a part of a recovering community. We choose to find some regularity of being well one day at a time, and we often find support in such communities. Some us find one day at a time wellness in the rooms of recovery while some of us find it in religious or spiritual communities. Then there is the reality in which some of us find wellness in both. What we cannot help but realize is that in these place we find healing, one day at a time freedom, and being part of. What we discover is that there are sinners and holy ones in both places who welcome us and become large supporters of our wellness in being part of. There is goodness everywhere. We can’t help but see this. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery know the fallen from grace story, and claim to have lived it. The sad thing about this story is we believed that we had to have lived in state of grace that was so innocently powerful we told ourselves we were worthy of praise and admiration from God, the spirit, or the universe itself, and had or should have had, a special place of belonging with them. We were left in dismay when those around us could not see our special reality or, unique status in being. After being in one day at a time recovery for a few years, or becoming mature in age, we see the error of our thinking when we see that we were not all that, and a bag of chips. What we come to realize is grace is what brought us into recovery and might have even saved our lives on numerous occasions. We had the same amount of unique status as everyone else, and our position in being was and is that grace holds us and grace had freed us from the bondage of active addiction. Our uniqueness is that we are inextricably connected with all things living and all things being. Thinking we are above others or that we are below others is dangerous thinking. We all belong to grace. Nothing can change that. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery believe that staying abstinent is a simple reality to finding hope. For many of us we find being frequent visitors who participate in the give and take that occurs in the rooms of recovery actually helps us to find a strength of freedom and grace which for many of us comes from the inextricable connection we find with each other. We are grateful because we don’t have to feel alone because we are frequent visitors and supporters to the rooms. Even those of us who were living introverted lives find we are part of a social species. We find that today we are living in and with the promise of hope and freedom from active addiction. It’s a simple reality. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that we can live our lives as a bowl full of complicated simplicity. To keep it simple we need not use just one day at a time. Many of us choose to meet with other recovering people in the rooms of recovery and give and take is what happens when we meet. Often we mistakenly think we need the ideal job, the ideal home, the ideal relationship and a life full of ideal circumstances to be able to live happily in recovery but in doing so we make our lives really complicated by placing such conditions on being able to live happily one day at a time. The rooms of recovery teach us to keep life and recovery simple. Don’t use, reach out, give back, and help others. We will experience reality, grace, and freedom. Peace.