Those of us who have been around the rooms of recovery for a long time are often people that cause other people to have resentments. We are the ones who others might believe are a bit daft, a bit weak, or a bit feeble, and we might be. In our reality, if we know what reality is, we will tell you our truth which is we know we are. The sad thing is that we have had or have our resentments too. Our experience has taught us to let go of them easier which is never really easy. We just have or have had more practice at acceptance from a developed wisdom which for all of us is learned knowledge from our pain and our mistakes. Whenever we are living in one day at a time recovery we are never separated from this wisdom for very long. The bottom line is to remain abstinent one day at a time. Our reality is not to leave before the miracle happens and that miracle is the freedom of one day at a time recovery for ourselves and others in the rooms of recovery. It is an inextricable hope for all of us who have been around for a while. It’s no longer just about us. We finally see that. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery find themselves shuffling a deck of spearmint playing cards. When we deal these cards to ourselves or others we want them to smell good and be pleasant to our taste. When we have been in recovery for a while we know such cards are a fallacy as to what life and recovery are all about. Life and recovery often take more work than we have the ability to do by ourselves and often when we get a dose of real recovery it leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Those who help us might tell us that recovery and life are often difficult, and we need to learn to accept its truth which is it is what it is. They know it, others know it and we need to know it. When what it is is hard to do they will tell us that we need to do what needs to be done to understand what real recovery can be all about. Real recovery is about remaining abstinent through difficult times. Other recovering people will help us with getting through difficult times, and when we get through such adversity we stop shuffling our spearmint playing cards. We trade them in for grace with the gratitude of a person who was drowning and were rescued by the reality and experience of others who had been drowning but had been rescued by the reality and experience of others who had rescued them. The grace we receive from others is reality and it is a part of the inextricable bond between recovering people. We will have plenty of good times. We find recovery mostly good enough, sometimes worse but often better. We need not think otherwise. It’s reality. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery understand freedom from active addiction. When we have been living in recovery for a while, we begin to understand that such freedom bears with it the reality that we have served this freedom by being faithful to the confines of total abstinence. We understand that sharing such freedom is a responsibility of all who share in the reality of one day at a time recovery. It takes many years of freedom for some of us to understand that we have benefitted from such freedom. Most of us had believed for a while that such freedom was being employable people who were capable of supporting ourselves and our families while being responsible, productive members of society. Being as such is a benefit of recovery but it is not necessarily freedom. When we continue to experience freedom from active addiction that makes it alright for us to be uncertain, wrong and fearful while knowing that such things are what they are, and that gives us the ability to be recovering people who know the meaning of responsible freedom and responsible living as we develop a responsible faith in our imperfection. This lets us know that in all honesty that we are simply people who are beginning to let go of mishaps, resentments and ego, and we hope we might somehow be of service to people by the means of our limited knowledge, our limited insight and our limited experience. We find that we are growing bit by bit year by year – one day at a time. We’re good with that. It’s freedom’s reality. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the importance of being present and living in the now. In as such we can look at the now as an apple orchard. While living in the now we saved enough money to buy an apple orchard. The apple orchard itself was an undertaking from the past. Someone or something at some point had to have planted it and now that we are its care-givers we take care of it in the present. In doing so the orchard stays healthy and is capable of bearing good apples. In doing so we looked forward to the harvest in the future. What was once the future will soon enough become the now, and in that now we harvest the apples. What we cannot use in the now we will preserve in such things as apple sauce, apple juice, apple jelly and other such things. If our apple orchard bears much fruit we can sell much of our harvest or we might even have a pick your own arrangement where people can buy what they pick. In all situations is the reality of the work in the now. It is the present reality. Peace.
Some people living in one day at a time recovery think of the future as something to look forward to. Those who do well in our system of meritocracy will make enough and also be able to invest enough to save enough for the future that their incomes will be the same as if they still had the securities that their jobs had afforded them. If only all of us could do the same. In another reality, in countries such as Canada, the government guarantees an income for us to get by on when we turn sixty-five. Because of this, most seniors get by, or manage to get by with enough to pay for the essentials of life. They might also receive subsidies if they can get into seniors housing. Those of us who don’t fit into either situation understand the reality of budgeting and trying to live within our means. Our plans for the future are simple things like ordering takeout this week, going to a movie, maybe saving for a staycation or even further travel or heading to a family member’s cottage for a couple of days. For some of us it’s a few extra hours of work to catch up on our bills. For some of us it’s waiting for that government pension or some other form of monthly check just so we might have a few bucks for coffee, perhaps an offering to charity or church and to give us the funds to replenish our groceries. In reality such things make us grateful and in gratitude we live in recovery. One more day of recovery and the hope of another one more day in recovery give us something to look forward to. In doing so we learn to live in today. We keep it simple. Peace.
Those of us who live in one day at a time recovery are familiar with (when). When is the projection to the future and in such projections are the conditions of when. For example – when things get less stressful I will stop using and when I stop using I will be happy and less controlling and when I am less controlling I will be able to relax and when I can relax I will be less stressed…. and so on and so forth… perhaps soon. Reality for many of us is we need help. Without help we live in avoidance of the now. We need to reach out. Also future projections bring us worry. The what ifs. What if I lose my job? What if I lose my house or my apartment? What if I get sick and the world goes to hell in a hand basket? What if? We just don’t know. We do our best to prepare for such adversity but our reality is some of us are just two paychecks away from bankruptcy. The when and the worry. We try not to live there. Living in today and doing what needs to be done today can keep when and worry away. Today, and living in recovery gives us hope. We need to be engaged in meaningful activities that help free our minds. Even if it’s just having a coffee with someone. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery who know that we can visit a pleasant trip to the past can also know that we can make an unpleasant trip to a troubled past. Being stuck in past trauma that we have experienced or past trauma we have caused can really mess us up. Some of us wonder, do we ever let it go. After time some of us are able to do so enough that we can acknowledge and process trauma to a degree in which we no longer have to live in active addiction. For some of us we can live with such types of harm (done to and done by) to a point that we can become comfortable in our own skin. We call this resilience and courage. This is what all people have in common. Once again we all have resilience and courage. Especially recovering people. If we don’t have fear we cannot have courage. Facing life and the demons that have harmed us or the demons that have controlled us is probably the most courageous thing we will ever do. In doing so we understand empathy and forgiveness so should we so choose to do so. We do our visits to a troubled past but we can choose not to live there. We have already understood hell long enough. The gates are always open and we are allowed to leave. This is the reality of one day at a time recovery. We need to live in today. Peace.
Most people living in one day at a time recovery understand that there are three days that we can live in. What we need to understand is living in one of these days is not the same as visiting one of them. We have the days of the pleasant yesterday and when we visit them it can be a remember when. Remember this is just a visit for just a couple of hours with old friends we haven’t seen for quite a while probably over a meal and a coffee. A touch of the past and a sharing of new news. It can be quite a pleasant time especially if the visit was done in a diner that has a jukebox that plays records from the past but when the visit is over the visit is over. It’s the old friends that make the visit. Catching up on new news helps us to foster the reality of care, love and concern. This is just a visit. We do well to remember this. Peace.
Some people who live in one day at a time recovery find recovery because when we were living in active addiction we were living like prodigal children. We lavishly spent money that we didn’t have to spend on getting high, drunk or stoned and in this state we spent even more money giving it away as if our bank accounts automatically replenished every cent we lost just because – well, we were us. This is the reality of active addiction and impaired thinking. It can lead us to a terrible bottom. Some people actually lose fortunes because of this. Some of us lose our rent money and have no money for groceries let alone some of the other necessities of life. Some of us die. It’s a cold cruel reality. We need to reach out before this happens. We need to reach out! Our reality can be better. We deserve the chance to grow and find one day at a time recovery. We deserve the chance to be free. Peace.
Those of us who have been living in one day at a time recovery are simply living life. When we awaken we awaken like some regular people do. We say a prayer of thanksgiving like some regular people do and we ask for the strength or the ability to face the day and its responsibilities. Some of us read our reading material like others might read the newspaper. Some of us might even have a to do list just like regular folks do. Some of us then go to work. Some of us can’t. The thing is we know we are to maintain our abstinence today. Even if we find ourselves in struggle we live up to our responsibilities. We ask for help when we need it. Regular people do this also. This is simply living life. Our difference is perhaps we need medication to manage a mental health disorder and we need support to maintain recovery from our addiction. To us this is simply living life. Everybody is fighting, or has fought, or will fight a battle we might know nothing about. Mental health disorders accompanied with addiction are a reality for us. Many of us find reality, struggle and then freedom. Freedom is the desire of many regular people. Like many others we find ours in grace. And just like other people we need to keep working at it. In doing so we comprehend the importance of one day at a time. Peace.