Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of the things we cannot see. One such reality is the pursuit of good intentions which often live in the minds and hearts of people, good people who have no clue about how to make good intentions come to their fruition. “If wishes were horses beggars would ride.” Other things we might not see are the anxieties and the stressors of quiet, calm, and reserved people. Although “Help me!” screams from inside their very being they often battle their demons alone much too afraid to make that phone call. Fear does this to us. Many of us know what this is like. We too were good at hiding things. We really don’t know what we cannot see. Kindness can make all the difference. It’s a gift. Don’t be afraid to reach out and share our good intentions with others. As we’ve said – we do not know what we cannot see. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery know what it is like to to be anxious but responsible in regards to both life and recovery. Stressors can have a way of building up one by one especially as we develop the reality of taking on more responsibility in regards to life and the task that we need to do day after day after day. Daily task (what we are capable of taking responsibility for) should be what we excel at. For some it’s running Fortune 500 companies – for some it’s the taking our dog for a walk on the the walking trail. Both can be difficult, but in reality recovering people do measure up. We all have our strengths. We do what we can do. Anxious or not. Practice, breathing, prayer, and affirmations help to get us there. We get to understand the reality of this too shall pass. Participation in life and in recovery can can be some of our greatest joys. We can be responsible. Just do it. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that in the beginning of recovery and in every day that follows is the beginning of a new day and a new awakening which prepares us for a day of abstinence and wellness. Wellness gives us the opportunity to be, or to become, people capable of living peaceful and contented lives. Such gifts are gifts that have sprang from a the gift of our very own desperation. Desperation is the little gremlin which led and leads us to cry out, or whisper, “God help me”. Though, with time passing as time does, we will understand such desperation loses some of its power and we have a quieter desperation that whispers, “Thank you”. Gratitude become an important part of our lives. Often we awake and say “Thank you.” It is the beginning of each and every day. We’re growing. It cannot help but happen. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time understand that when they are seeking whether they should abstain completely from mid altering substances or whether they should simply moderate and control their usage there is only one reliable answer which is we need to subscribe to the practice of total abstinence. Why? The reason is because it is not just how often we use or how much we use it is because of what happens to us when we put anything into our system that gets us high, buzzed, or wasted. We need to pay attention to that last word – wasted. We cannot stop and we cannot function when we try to moderate. Experience shows us this. Total abstinence is our only chance and it’s a much better reality. Life becomes manageable in recovery. Reach out, be free, and stay free. It’s a reliable reality. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery eventually understand that when we had hit our bottom it was the beginning of reality interrupted. A life of self-will running riot, meaning we thought only of participating in life while using, and using was our only way of coping with the realities of life, that bottom that we hit revealed to us we had no choice but to stop. This brought us to a desperation which we now understand was a gift, and we reached out for help very often with the plea, “God help me”. And help he did. Many of us needed a safe environment to get help. A hospital or a detox often became light in our turmoil. Our using life became totally interrupted. Opportunity was now knocking at our door. This was the start of a new life. Freedom found us. We had hope. Today we have peace. Reality is a wonderful thing today. We are grateful. Thank God for interruptions. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the importance of perseverance. To maintain on going recovery we must stay connected with our supports and practice the reality of giving and receiving grace. Many recovering people believe we must have contact with others by frequently attending and participating in group settings where support can be plentiful if we know how to take what we need and leave the rest behind. Even if we believe we are unique in our journeys we will sooner or later hear something that we can identify with. A commonality most of us can relate to is we have a desire to remain abstinent which we do one day at a time. This reality reveals to us the importance of the other. When we see the other we share the common bond of together we can. Perseverance does pay off. It works. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand that the more time we spend being abstinent the better we understand the reality of time. We have often heard people who have been abstinent say that the reality of time is time takes time. We also understand that time passes by very quickly. Twenty, thirty, or even forty years seem to pass by in a flash. For many of us the sum of our knowledge is recovery is a gift given to us through grace. In other words the gift of desperation was held fast in our beings and abstinence just happened. Foolish are those of us who believed that we controlled our own destiny. When we have been around for a while we understand that there are no accidents in God’s universe. The reality of time reveals this to us. We’ve been blessed. We are grateful. Peace.
People who are living in one day at a time recovery can be sure of one thing. This is if we do not use we will not get wasted or buzzed. This is the reality of remaining abstinent. In all certainty, no matter what we or anyone says, recovery is to be experienced by living life one day at a time. A ginormous change happens to us when we are abstinent which is we become strong recovering people by seeking support from other recovering people. In doing we lose the aloneness we once felt because aloneness cannot grow in the togetherness of we. Even those of us who are introverts are people who understand the reality of we. Together we can do what we could never do alone. This is the reality of not picking up that first one. Recovery becomes an experienced and shared reality. We live it. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the reality of when the piper has called. This is not a pleasant time for us and neither should it be a pleasant time for us. This is the reality of remembering the past. In early abstinence we become the victims of every wrong that has ever been done to us. We just love to pass the blame on to others. No wonder we were we (or so we thought). Then we start to look at the wrong we have done to others. This is the really hard part and this is when the piper calls. This is when we need help because few of us are prepared to do this alone. What we need to know is that our thinking was impaired and still is to some degree until we learn the true reality of grace. When we know the reality of grace we are then prepared to face the piper when the piper has called because the piper knows three places that he will take us. They are guilt, shame, and remorse. The reality of grace makes it so that the piper cannot keep us there because grace gives us forgiveness even when we don’t feel forgivable. When we understand this we are no longer victims of our disease. We become free people who know the meaning of “it is what it is”. Grace becomes a permanent reality for us. One day at a time reality becomes the cornerstone of our recovery. The piper can harm us no more. Welcome to maturity. Welcome to life. The chains are broken. We deserve all the goodness that recovery has in store for us. Peace.
Many people living in one day at a time recovery understand the need we have for our lives to become mature. Those of us who are older know that just because we grow up (or get older) it doesn’t mean we have matured. Often the control freak who lives inside of us will retard our maturity as much as it possibly can. In other words we have difficulty with maturing in regards to our levels of flexibility and adaptability and when we cannot be flexible or adapt to reality the struggles of anxiety’s cumbersome grip causes havoc with our peace of mind. This becomes the reality of accepting reality which is to simply let things and other people be as they may. In other words we just need to let it go. This simple act really makes life easier. It’s a tried and tested reality. We know this. Welcome to reality. Welcome to growth. We now understand what grace is. Both giving and receiving. Peace.