Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that if you are not person living in one day at a time recovery one day at a time language could be nothing but gibberish to you. After all how could we be powerless over an addiction and ever expect to find abstinence. Another example is how could you surrender to win. And most importantly how could you only keep what you have by giving it away. Good hearted church people might say that we are speaking the devil’s tongue. The strange thing is that therapists have been using similar language for a long time. And all of us – we probably picked up something like one day at a time from Christ when he said, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Gibberish to some. Poetry to others. Especially to those of us who have hit bottom. We had to surrender to win. In our powerlessness we found strength. And in this day we found recovery so we give it away to keep it. Peace.
Some people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of living with narcissistic egos. This is the reality of needing to be in control because we are usually functioning at a level where we have great difficulty of being able to let go. Not being able to function at a level of trusting in the process or being terribly afraid that your whole life is going to hell in pieces is a horrendous thing to live with with. It happens to men, women, and children and is more than likely present at the very least in the egoic imaginings of all people. If we do not learn to function at a healthy level our lives will fall apart. We need to let go because we do love, we do care, and we do know that life is not just about us. A narcissistic ego is not necessarily a narcissistic life. It’s what living in one day at a time recovery is all about. We no longer just survive and surviving was what we were doing. Though it might be difficult for us we understand grace and we know the meaning of grace. Peace.
Many of us who are living in one day at a time recovery understand that there are times when we are wallowing in self-pity that we are actually practicing a subtle form of self-deceit. What we are discovering is that we are often dramatizing our pain or our melancholy. Well good for us. Most people do this. Especially when we do it out-loud. Perhaps we will find an empathetic or sympathetic ear. Pain shared is pain lessened. But if someone tells us to get off the pity-pot maybe we should. We cannot wallow in self-pity or self-deceit for too long because we become cynical. Most of us know this. Besides this we know the reality of glorious sadness. It is actually one day at a time joy. This gift and the gift of desperation brought us into recovery. It’s not just drama. It’s a wonderful paradox. Aloneness ends. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that even the tiniest bit of hope can lead us into many years or even a lifetime of contented recovery. Our biggest tool that we have which helps us to remain in recovery is each other and the inextricable connection that we share. When we realize this is happening or has happened unto us we understand that God, the spirit, or the universe has sprinkled us with a dash of manageable living granting us the reality of happiness and joy, and also freedom from active addiction. This helps calm the troubled seas of life. Life does not offer us perfection but it does give us doable lives. This keeps us from picking out plots in an already overcrowded graveyard. The tiniest bit of hope makes it so that we have gratitude. Grace has given us one more day. Peace.
Some of us living in one day at a time recovery understand that if we are those of us who live with mental health disorders we can be or we can become “We The Vulnerable”. Our reality is even though we have very little to give we discover life has a way of taking from us everything we have. This can happen to most people (especially most dependent people) no matter how armored up we appear to be. Life has made it so that we don’t have the ability to say no nor do we have the capability to wisely protect ourselves. Living in one day at a time recovery gives us a better chance of doing both. Perhaps we even grow up and we stop buying bridges in the desert. It’s all part of life. We know this way to well. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that people who have been unable to find abstinence and therefore one day at a time recovery are in no way less than us. To us those who have been unable to find and maintain abstinence are just not there yet. We feel for those who cannot grasp one day at a time recovery but there appears, at times, there is not much we can do but pray, keep the doors of recovery open, and somehow carry a message of a day at a time recovery when they are ready to hear it. We never know when such an opportunity will arise The very essence of recovery is often evident in us just because we are abstinent. Though others might not be abstinent they are in no way less than us. We know this. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery know what it is like to live with a tired and indescribable happiness. This comes with the reality brought forth as the years go by and we get a little older. We no longer want to fight by being part of the status quo of society by ever seeking to obtain, gather, and safeguard our material possessions as well as our imagined standing in life but we want to give away what is most important to us which is our recovery, our peace, and our love. Because of our freedom from active addiction we understand that our reality was and is that we can only keep what we have by giving it away. This paradox has come to its fruition. It is a tired and indescribable happiness. In this we find contentment. We call it grace. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of continuing contentment. This continuing contentment can even become evident in the most cynical of us. This is why many of us meet in coffee shops solving all the problems of the world. What we mean is we find satisfaction in dissatisfaction. We call this scathing depression. It is not uncommon for people to be content with what they are familiar with even when, or should we say especially when, we live harboring resentment. When we blame others for our own familiar distorted continuing contentment we have no sense of gratitude, no sense of joy, and very little sense of happiness. We become content wallowing in own dissatisfied continuing contentment. The strange thing is is that dissatisfaction often leads happy contentment. The ongoing spiritual experience of recovery takes us there. It’s called grace, gratitude, and love. We cannot help but to find continual freedom and true healthier continual contentment. It just takes time. Peace.
Some people living in one day at a time recovery understand that when we journal we are opening doors to self-awareness and we surrender to our reality making us ever-present to participate in life, reality, and recovery. We discover the beginnings of our true-selves which makes us aware and receptive of the love and grace given to us in the inextricable connection that we share with other recovering people and humanity at large. It is a terrifying and wonderful experience founded in our bonds of human imperfection and our shared gift of human desperation. Journaling solidifies the reality of hope. Patience reveals to us the reality of our true-selves. It’s our shared experience. The influence of our shadow-selves no longer controls us. We find a deeper sense of freedom. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that we all have a need to do what we are capable of or to put it simply we participate in doing what we can. Doing what we can is the limiting reality of all people. If we are five feet tall and we cannot leap high enough to dunk a basketball we can always take a foul shot from the foul line. When we do this we understand that all shots are possible points and when given the chance we should all take a shot because each and every shot creates an opportunity of winning the game. In other words we take a shot at one day at a time recovery because it can change our lives for the better. This gives us the chance of being people living in recovery. It’s doable for everyone. Peace.