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.
Those of us who live with mental health disorders and addictions need to come in out of the rain. Depressed, lonely, and tired is the rain no-one should live in. Those of us who are living in one day at a time recovery know this. We came in out of the rain. We reached out for help. Reaching out is the courageous and brave thing to do. We received professional help and some of us found our way in out of the rain. Many of us found tools to help live well lives. Many of us live one day at a time. Whether we believe it or not, we deserve to feel good. We deserve to come in out of the rain.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery know that when we are comparing ourselves to others we are actually setting ourselves up for judgements of being superior to or less than other people. Both judgements are detrimental to our health and wellbeing. When we judge ourselves to be superior to others we can become vain in such ways of possibly passing egocentric bitterness upon others. In humility and in recovery we should know all people are equal in worth because we are all human beings. When comparison brings us to the decision that we are less than others we are in all actuality passing judgements of inferiority upon ourselves. Neither of these comparison has ever helped us in anyway whatsoever. It’s like asking parents which child they love the most. Comparison can become a harmful exercise in futility. In time we awaken to this healthier reality. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the search for otherness. We understand that the otherness we desire to experience is part of an inherited make-up which has made us living breathing human beings with the need to belong to something bigger and astronomically more powerful than ourselves. For some of us it as as simple as going fishing. For some of us it is a belief that all people are inextricably connected in the human existence. Also many of us choose to call the otherness God, the spirit or the universe. In our recovery when we take a simple breath we experience the reality of the otherness. The otherness pulls us out of the dark places of our journeys letting us know we are not alone and we belong. We also get to know happiness and joy. In this we understand grace. This is our imperfect humble one day at a time recovery. Peace.
Most people living in one day at a time recovery don’t want to be hard to get along with. If we look at life realistically we know that there are times that we are. Being hard to get along with usually comes into play when things don’t go the way we think they should. The reason such things make us hard to get along with is because when we feel like we are losing control, or are about to lose control, fear becomes the catalyst driving our thinking. Another reality is our fearful ego responds in a way that it must assert itself in all situations. When we learn to ease our fears and can let go of egoic control we are easier to get along with. We don’t have to become doormats but we do have to listen to others. We mean really listen. Perhaps then we won’t always be so hard to get along with. Peace.
Many people living life one day at a time know when reality is too difficult. We might try to solve challenging situations buy ourselves, but reality beats the hell out of us and we know that we need help. People who are very strong and wise have taught us this. Reaching out for help from professionals, family members, and friends doesn’t need to be a humiliating experience. We all need help at one time or another. People are not built to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders forever. If it’s too difficult we reach out. Be it depression, anxiety, addictions, or other health issues, we reach out to health professionals. If we have other difficulties we reach out to the appropriate people and agencies that can help. We will be required to follow direction. It’s reality. Once again, we all need help. It lessens the load. Peace.
Those of us who live in one day at a time recovery know that it would be an absolutely ridiculous endeavor if we were to seek a life that has no anger or resentment. The best that we can possibly do is to feel such feelings and then participate in the process of letting them go. If we decide to live a life full of anger and resentment we will become bitter and depressed people. Obsessive thinking takes us there. Do we really need to unleash our wrath. When the answer that comes to us is “no” we begin to heal or in other words we are starting to let go. It takes time. That’s reality. We let go to be free. Peace.
There are people living in one day at a time recovery who spend parts of their time entertaining bitterness. When we do this we are in all actuality living disappointed and resentful lives. We spend our time looking for someone or something to blame. Such a reality is akin to depression. With no hints of true gratitude we share our bitterness with others in an attempt to make allies in creating a “common enemy”. This has been a passion of humanity since the beginning of time. Resentment and hate are dubious luxuries recovering people cannot afford. It leads us back to active addiction or what alcoholics call a dry drunk. There are better realities we can entertain and when we find gratitude we can find them. Reach out. Peace.
Most people living in one day at a time recovery eventually come to understand that we all have a beauty that we try to hide. The beauty we all try to hide is the innocence and the vulnerability that live in the very depths of our souls. One day at a time we come to understand how little we really do know and how vulnerable and innocent we truly are as we live our lives as recovering people. Even the most cynical of us eventually learn to trust in a higher power that loves us unconditionally and is impossible for a human being to truly comprehend. We discover that we stop allowing ourselves to be led by the whims and desires of our egocentric delusions. When we do this we understand the reality of one day at a time recovery and now when we fall we fall upward. Peace.
Some of us who are living in one day at a time recovery learn when we are blaming others for our struggles we are actually in all reality paying no attention to what our struggles really are. This is the reality of scapegoating which can make us bitter people opposed to love, belonging, and the inextricable connection between all people. When we understand this we understand we can disagree without opposing love, belonging, and the inextricable connection we all share. Scapegoating and dehumanization should happen less when we live in one day at a time recovery and perhaps we learn to drop the word blame in regards to the reasons for our own unhappiness. Struggles become less as we discover our own reality. It’s the simplicity of love. Peace.