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.
Many of us living our lives one day at a time know that one day at a time living is the foundation of recovery. Such a foundation was found and formed in hospitals, detox centers, rehabs, jails, and recovery groups be they 12 step personhoods or other such support groups. The idea is we can face life and live recovery one day at a time while being someone who is somebody who participates in the principal of together we can if we take our abstinence, recovery and life just one day at a time. Such recovery might begin in a moment of desperation when we utter these words within our minds or sometimes out loud – God help me! Those of us who have been in recovery for a few years remember such desperation as if it just happened yesterday. Our lives were a mess but today life is doable and often good one day at a time. We don’t have to do this by ourselves. That’s the reality of being a member of a support group. New comers and old timers alike know and live by this reality. We live and recover one day at a time. It works! Peace.
Those of us living in one day at a time recovery know one thing which is we are just passing it along. And in doing so we understand that we have learned this in the rooms of recovery as we believe that we can only keep what we have by giving it away. Recovery has taught us one thing and that is – when we do and understand what is suggested to us in the rooms of recovery, especially in 12 step programs, we shall help others to find and maintain recovery. This is true even to the new-comer whose only way of carrying a message is to be the person who makes the coffee. How are they carrying the message? They are doing so by helping put people at ease. This is an important facet of recovery which is to find a sense of ease within our own skin which makes recovery possible. Being at ease puts us in a non-delusional frame of mind. The trick is to remember how active addiction has made us so ill at ease we decided to seek help. We would do well to pay attention because there are time we will forget. The wisdom of the rooms will remind us why we are committed to recovery and in this recovery we will find a sense of ease. That is if we remain abstinent. Life is doable and manageable. Recovery is freedom. A sense of serenity is ours. When we can, we give it away. We’re just passing it along. Peace.
Those of us who have been living in recovery for a good portion of our adult life understand the reality of hope. We have spent many years going with the flow while being members in good standing of recovery and responsibility while being unaware time has been passing us by much faster than we could ever imagine. Could we say that we have no regrets? Not really. This is a reality for some of us causing us to live with anxiety and depression. Such affects cause us to be less flexible and more frustrated with the challenges of life but we have been told that our experience gives us wisdom. When someone approaches us with a problem searching for the wisdom of our years of sobriety all we can say is – that’s life. This is the reality of acceptance. Should they be able to understand we know that they have a chance of living a life of sobriety one day at a time. We know sobriety isn’t all rainbows and butterflies but we know it has great benefits. One such benefit is hope. We know and we believe we have hope for one more day of sobriety. For this we are responsible. That is to pass the message of recovery along and to let others know that we adapt to adversities. Even now life is good and life is doable. We understand hope and we know hope simply has to be. It’s a matter of acceptance. Peace.
Those of us who have been living in recovery understand the reality of imperfection. What we often perceive as imperfection actually is the defects in living beings, the flaws in the natural world and the troubles or the mishaps of fate. In other words – people, places and things that upset us. This is the reality of living as an imperfect human being in a flawed world with what we see as living with the troubles or the mishaps of fate. Some of us pine for an event that would grant us mastery over such ill-fitted imperfection. The reality of recovery tells us to accept what we cannot change and perhaps we then give up the desire and the need to be in control. Perhaps our desire should be to be granted the ability to overcome ourselves and to learn plain old acceptance of what we cannot change while also hoping for the wisdom to know the difference. Maybe a twist of humility and a sprinkle of gratitude will help us to navigate this reality. We will even understand that imperfection isn’t always defects, flaws or what we perceive as the troubles or the mishaps of life. Imperfection is the people, places and things that we love. The good and the bad. We often call it a gift. It is our reality and we know reality isn’t always perfect. Life is mostly good enough, sometimes worse and often better. One day at a time recovery reveals this to us. Welcome to the reality of freedom. Peace.
Many of us living in one day at a time recovery know that sometimes we’re down. This is a reality to those of us who live with changing moods and energy levels. Although we live in abstinence we might become lethargic and perhaps depressed especially after a period of high energy and activity. Sometimes we can call this a crash. Our understanding for some of us is we are not quite manic but in reality we are fluttering around close to a high and our reality is all highs end with a down. For those of us that this happens to we understand the reality of imperfect recovery. We probably need this down time just to rest. Often we can say that we know what it’s like to be burning the candle at both ends and some of us even suffer from burnout. Another reality is some of us need to treated by a physician because some of us need medication to be or to become healthy. This can be reality and we all need to live in reality. Our imperfect one day at a time recovery reveals this to us. This revelation comes from the gift of experience because we can no longer deny our learned experience. We want to become a healthier us and we do. Peace.
Most people living in one day at a time recovery know what it’s like to be captured by our thoughts. Some of us realize that our thoughts are our thoughts and often our thoughts are responsible for the way we feel or our feelings influence the way we think. Our minds can be a funny thing but should we be captured by our thoughts and/or our feelings we tend to be caught up in an obsessive and addictive way of thinking. We actually can crave to think the ways in which we think. We can also crave to feel the ways we feel. We can also crave to ingest anything that brings about pleasure in any form which creates a sense of ease, safety and comfort to the body, brain and mind. The body, the brain and the mind need to experience pleasure, ease, safety and comfort but it appears much of what we ingest to boot in such experiences severely diminishes our ability to face the reality of adversity in any way whatsoever nor can we understand the concept of responsibility. We become the addict living in non-reality captured by our thoughts. It’s a sad thing to experience or witness. Many of us need some form of a medical intervention to lead us into recovery. We might need medications to get us through withdrawal and to make us healthy enough to understand and live in a healthy reality. To know this is imperative information. Our thoughts no longer need to keep us in captivity. Peace.
Some people living in one day at a time recovery know that it takes a long time to be awakened emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. We are not those of us who get hit by a sudden jolt of lightning and awaken as a dramatically changed person. For those of us who awaken bit by bit we slowly grow and slowly change in order that we might get to have a glimpse of our real-self which if we could see it we would see it as an innocence that belongs to no-one or no one thing. We are recipients of the love of God, the spirit and the universe and we are given back our lives to do as we please. Some of us choose to participate in life being of service to others as we continue to grow bit by bit day by day seeing everything is inextricably connected to everything. Some of us believe that the growth and the realities that have been revealed to us over a period of years would have been far too much for us to handle had it been thrust upon us in one sudden flash. This is one of the occurrences in which time had to take time. It’s a more natural maturation as a result of one day at a time recovery. In our continuing innocence we will understand grace and comprehend the gift of imperfection. We are awakening to love. Peace.