Many people who live in one day at a time like to write about the reality of their recovery. Most of the time when we take a pen in our hand we are just being healthy. Becoming or remaining healthy often is the purpose recovery. In our reality we have to be abstinent in order that we can adapt and cope with the reality of adversity being a part of our lives. Some would say that journaling helps us to function in reality. As was said before – we are just being healthy. When we are healthy we feel the inextricable connection that we have with other recovering people. We understand the desperation that people new to recovery feel, and we tell them that this desperation is a gift if they use it to their advantage. What we call the gift of desperation is what made us reach out and accept the support that others were extending to us. This is that reality of many. Life becomes doable even during difficult days. The experience of others has shown us this. In this we are healthy. When we are healthy we can practice the gift of one day at a time gratitude. Those of us who write appreciate having the ability to able to write. If we let others read what we write it might even help them. It’s a welcoming to recovery. For us it’s just being healthy. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery are moved by hope in the hope that we see which is drawn from examples that are transmitted by others who are living in one day at a time recovery. Our reality is that there is hope for us too. We understand that we are inextricably connected to those we are akin with and we learn we are a part of. We have glimpses of being no better or no worse than any other person. Such knowledge can be difficult for some of us to accept because in our aloneness we feel unique. Hope tells us in our uniqueness we are still a part of and our connection with others lets us know this. For some of us we might be private and introverted individuals but we are inextricably connected to many, many others. When we are healthy we understand this. Hope makes itself evident if we are paying attention. We are moved by such hope to a point of living a humble and grateful reality. We belong. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that sometimes work is work. We are not just talking about jobs or careers which we draw our incomes from, we’re talking about everyday activities that we do to keep us healthy and living in recovery. Sometimes, the support meetings we go to that help us to invest time in our recovery and that also act as insurance policy against relapse isn’t always the place we want to be. Sometimes the papers that pile high stacked upon our desk are papers we just don’t want to deal with just at the present moment. These are often hiccups of feeling anxious, overwhelmed and depressed. Remember we are saying hiccups. We are not talking about acute or chronic full blown conditions that we need immediate medical care for. We are talking about the blahs or the work is just work kind of thing that might even be the things that we usually enjoy doing. Maybe we need to take a break. Maybe we need help with what needs to be done. Often we reach and someone lends us a hand. Remember that phrase (lends us a hand). That hand is something we are willing to pay forward when the opportunity arrives and we can do as such because we choose to live in one day at a time recovery even when work is just work. We keep investing in our recovery. This is the challenge and the gift of freedom. Welcome to reality. Peace.
Many of us living in recovery from mental health conditions accompanied with addictions learn the reality of the joyous now. In the joyous now we understand that the present is a peaceful time that accentuates the reality of freedom from active addiction. Those of us who find such freedom understand the breaking of chains, the calming of fear and often the compassion and love found in community. In such community we understand that we can be different from those we are akin with even though we all have a common goal which is to find reality and to obtain and maintain freedom from active addiction. In as such, after time, we get a glimpse of our true-self and we will see our true-self is an innocence that we could have never understood if we didn’t find one day at a time recovery. The freedom is that we start to see this in everyone, and when we do we experience the joyous now. The joyous now is the gratitude we find in today. It’s called grace. Peace.
Some people living in one day at a time recovery learn the reality of growing acceptance. If we cannot accept what we cannot change and when we try to stop or distort healthy reality changing it from what it is we are living a life based upon delusional egocentric thinking. Living such a life we try to say black is white and we try to control others to same point as we would as if we were trying to make a leopard change its spots. Such egocentric thinking keeps us from ever accepting that we could be wrong. Our reality can even tell us we don’t need to find recovery. This is denial and denial keeps us from taking responsibility for ourselves and for our actions. We are told to live with no regrets but some people living in recovery have regrets and also we have our pains. This is from the reality of living in impaired functioning. Sometimes we cannot right that which cannot be made right. Living with the memories of the unreal world of impaired functioning will probably trouble us until the day we die. If we accept this we will be given the gift of hope and in this hope is the calming of delusional egocentric thinking. Then we will be given the challenge of one day at a time recovery. We live in recovery one day at a time – regrets and all. Neither the past nor the future own us. We live in today. Today is a gift. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of investing time in their recovery. Reality tells us that we people living with mental health disorders accompanied with addiction need to participate in our wellness one day at a time by staying abstinent one day at a time. We understand that some of us need to take medication prescribed by a practicing physician to be healthy enough to become and stay healthy. Many of us join support groups and 12 step programs. Both are good for us because practicing the knowledge, the abilities and the experiences of both ways is investing time in our recovery. Also the reality of belonging and living an inextricable bond with people, especially with others living in recovery, can nullify any thoughts of aloneness. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have alone time, and it doesn’t mean we cannot make our own decisions, it means such inextricable bonding with those we are akin with gives the opportunity to draw from an incredible amount of experience, strength and hope so should we choose to. When we learn to pay attention we will understand the gift that others have been. For some of us we can draw support from others just by learning day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year the reality of how much wisdom we have been exposed to. Freedom, abstinence and reality are drawn from investing time in our recovery. It all starts with reaching out. Please do so. Peace.
Some creative people who are living in one day at a time recovery walk through life like stumbling eagles. We create what seems to be our own stumbling journey creating mishaps and analogies of broken lives that are then transformed into heroic ventures of courage and adventure. Our reality is we are just stumbling eagles who are not so heroic, and not so courageous but we do surrender reaching out to God, the spirit or the universe in desperation asking that we may fly and join the company of the eagles who fly at ease soaring high on the breaths of a wind able to be in a majestic recovery ever so certain and free in life like the other people who find life, recovery and reality quite easy and truly just second nature. We discover our answer after a bit is sometimes it is. We also discover though that all eagles stumble from time to time and that they are much better in the soaring the bright blue skies. Everybody is. Creative people learn this after they learn to let go. Stumbling is part of the adventure. Courage is getting up and soaring like we are meant to. We know no other way. Peace.
Some of us living with mental health disorders complicated with addictions find that work is a necessity in life. Some of us are employed at full-time paying jobs which support us and our families. Some of us have part-time jobs and participate at home in doing such things such as cleaning, dishes, laundry, shopping, budgeting and we might even take on the role of primary care-givers for our kids. Some of us just do chores. Some of us have part-time jobs. Some of do casual work. Some of us do volunteer work. What we do discover is once we come into one day at a time recovery we discover that work (paid or not paid) is vital for our health. We understand the reality that not all of us can work at paid employment but we can do the work necessary to live in one day at a time recovery and abstinence. Some of us can’t until we get help. When we get the help – we can. Some of us understand the reality of living with disabling mental health disorders. This is no joke and for those of us who do, the very fact that we’re even living in recovery is a miracle for many of us. Should any of us be able to find our niche while functioning in todays world is enough. We must realize – recovery or not – abstinent or not – working or not, we all have the hope and the chance of finding our place in life. We are enough! We need to reach out. We need to do the work. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery after a year or two of recovery believed we were capable lassoing the moon. Such delusions put us in touch with our own grandiose spiritual superiority or should we say our egoic imaginings. The funny thing is people fairly new to recovery believed in us too. The people who had been around for many years – well – they told us to keep our feet on the ground. Years later we understood what they meant. Those who we called old-timers were supportive to us when our feet were on the ground. They told us to keep our eyes on the prize which was to stay abstinent and practice living in recovery just one day at a time. And some of us did. We did funny things like we kept going to meetings in the rooms of recovery. We became humble and did such things like letting go of any notion of spiritual superiority or our whims of being chosen. We accepted we were neither over or under any other people. We strived to be a part of even with our mistaken notions and our peculiar peculiarities. And we learned to listen to everyone. Many marvelous things did happen and would happen to us. We also had and will have our struggles. We begin to understand life. Our feet are on the ground. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery live under a patched up sky. This is the reality of living a mended life. Not only does it take the love of God, the spirit or the universe to help us heal but we also need the love of people we are akin with. Many of us have found such love in the openness and the honesty from people we have met in the rooms of recovery. They have shared their experience, strength and hope with us. When we start to see, and when we start to hear, we understand we are the recipients of compassionate love. Such acts help to patch up the holes in our sky and in doing so our skies are often sunny and blue. We get to understand the freedom of one day at a time recovery. We even get to experience this freedom should our skies cloud over and the rain start to fall. Our reality is that our patched up sky can handle the rain because God, the spirit and the universe working through those we are akin with have helped us to find shelter from the rain by helping us to build a home in the rooms of one day at a time recovery. This freedom we have is the joy of living under a patched up sky. It’s one of the greatest gifts we will experience. We’ve received our lives back. Peace.