For most of us living in one day at a time recovery we understand that finding and living in recovery is a reality for everyone. Recovery is not limited to only white, straight, evangelical Christian men just like hitting bottom is not limited to only white, straight, evangelical Christian men. One day at a time recovery is recovery and bottoming out is bottoming out. When we understand this we will understand that we are all inextricably connected to each other and that many people living in recovery actually live in glass houses. We really don’t want to throw stones do we. A one day at a time reality check teaches us this. Peace.
Many people who are new to living in one day at a time recovery take a few minutes of quiet time and put their thoughts and their feelings down on paper shortly after they have risen to face the day. Often they will do a list of what they plan or need to do for the day. The reality of this brainstorming session is to keep the day simple. When we finish such tasks we will feel a sense of accomplishment be they work responsibilities or leisure activities. This is a simple effective way of helping us organize our day. It’s a tool of recovery. It keeps us in our current twenty-four hour period. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand when the stressors and worries of tomorrow are interfering with today we are in all reality not living in today. A cold cruel truth in radical acceptance can lead us to what can be perceived as a defeating and morbid thought which is that no-one is promised tomorrow. In radical reality we know that this is true but many of us live as if there is hope for tomorrow and if there is hope for tomorrow, we do what we can to prepare us for tomorrow while we are living in today. The simple acts of living in today, and doing what we must do today can prepare us to do what we need to do today for today and tomorrow so that both today and tomorrow will be doable. The simple acts of participation in today’s works can ease the realities of stress and worry. Perhaps then we can find the calm. We also know the reality of reaching out when we are simply overwhelmed. At times we need to seek professional help or we could need the help of family and/or friends. Stress is often a contributing factor in relapse. The sooner we reach out for the better. We all deserve to live healthy and doable lives. Again reach out. It gives us choices and in our choices we find our freedom from active addiction one day at a time. It’s a better reality. Peace.
Those of us who live in one day at a time recovery understand that we sometimes feel perplexed and that we sometimes feel amazed. There are even times that we feel both perplexed and amazed at the same time. We can feel perplexed because the bondage of self drives us into a world of complete defeat causing active addiction which seems to be rooted in countless amounts of self-centered fear. In another reality we were amazed that this self-centered fear led us into one day at a time recovery. In other words we reached out for help. We were soon to learn that God, the spirit, or the universe solidified our recovery through the actions and words of other people and we learned to follow suit. We discovered that we were recipients of grace. We said to ourselves, “Why me?” and “Why me?”. We discovered that we can feel perplexed and amazed at the same time. When this happens we usually get to understand gratitude and we continue to live in one day at a time recovery because of it. Something has transformed the bondage of self into the reality of self-obsessive freedom and it can be kind of amazing. We have shaken hands with our shadow self. Peace.
As we begin to grow in one day at a time recovery we begin to understand the necessity of hitting the reset button for the second time in sequences of resetting it again and again while trying to navigate the realities and adversities of life. One of the reasons we need to reset and reset and reset again is we foolishly think that anxiety will always be kicking our butt. And perhaps it has or perhaps it will but hopefully we learn to keep our eyes on the prize. The prize is that we live day after day while remaining abstinent from our addiction and in all reality we learn that we have coped and continue to cope with anxiety even though when we are in our struggles it doesn’t seem like it. We have learned to reach out for support (peer and professional) and we have discovered its benefits. When we adapt to hitting the reset button for the second time in sequences of again and again we learn the reality of our growth and we give ourselves credit where credit is due. We need to know this. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery know the reality of hitting the reset button. The first time we do this is because addiction has made our lives unmanageable. This often happens in our twenties or early thirties but in all reality it can happen at any age. The troubles we have or the trouble we are in lead us to seek for help. If we find solid recovery many of us free a sigh of release (thank God we are alive and thank God for one day at a time recovery). It was our bottom that brought us to recovery and a solid recovery at that. Life is good. We have learned a shaded reality of ourselves that is enough to create manageable lives. We learn how to be grateful which is important. We find peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery know that one day at a time recovery is actually having the opportunity to hold that tiny bit of magic in our hands from time to time to time. The magic is that we get to live in abstinence from our addiction which creates a freedom few of us really know how to appreciate. This is the freedom for one day and one day only that we do not have to live in constant struggle with ourselves in which we have to choose whether to pick up and use or whether we have to pick up the phone and reach out for help. Many of us choose to pick up the phone. In doing so we experience that tiny bit of magic which many of us call grace. It keeps us free from active addiction. We’ve found hope. Peace.
There are times in our recovery that we might try to fit in with a group, or a cause, or a reality that is probably a bit foreign to us but in all reality, we simply just don’t. It might be upsetting to us which is in all truth really okay. We might feel rejected when we don’t fit in but reality will let us know that we will discover beyond the best we know or the really real of resilience. We belong with those we are akin with which is with the people who get us few as they might be. Perhaps just our spouses or partners, a few other recovering people, and maybe a couple of other loving or concerned people. We need to see beyond fitting in. We just need to belong. Especially with ourselves. We need to remember this. It’s what resilience is all about. Peace.
The biggest really real that we do get to understand when we are living in one day at a time recovery is that we all matter, we all count and we are all enough. When we understand this we understand that each and everyone of us are important and that we all belong in this big, messy, and sometimes cruel world. In difficult times we need to know that life is doable and that tough times do pass in time. Knowing this is the reality of radical resilience that lives in each and every one of us. We all matter, we all count, and we are all enough.. Reach out for help and hang in there. It’s important and so are you. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery know that in our talks, conversations, and writings the topics don’t really change all that much. We refer to reaching out to give and to receive help. We mention grace, gratitude, humility, resilience, desperation, and living one day at a time. We believe in God (the spirit and the universe), paradox, reality, and being part of the rooms of recovery. We also believe that somehow we are all inextricably connected knowing the importance of one day at a time abstinence. And in all reality many of us know depression, anxiety, and the scourges of obsessive and compulsive thinking. We also know the reality of bottoming out and the joy of living in one day at a time recovery. The topics are constant because they keep us honest and healthy. It’s our gift to each other. Peace.