It is easy for alcoholics and addicts new to recovery to substitute one addiction for another, becoming compulsively involved in other activities. Although those activities, such as work or exercise, may be otherwise healthy and productive, they can hamper recovery if they become a transfer of addictions.
One goal of recovery and learning to live a sober lifestyle is to regain control over your life and your choices. Compulsive behavior, even with productive activities, does not allow you to exercise free choice and is not within your control. Being out of control in any area of your life does not lead to true sobriety in the long run.
Common Compulsive Behaviors
One common compulsive activity for people new to recovery is "workaholism" -- becoming compulsive about your work, career or job search. Working and improving your financial situation are noble goals, but working more than full time or spending most of your time thinking or talking about work can become compulsive behavior.
The same is true with exercise. While exercise and becoming healthier are beneficial to people in recovery, research shows that your long-term sobriety can be hampered if your exercise program becomes compulsive and a substitute for your former addictive behaviors.
Unhealthy Compulsive Behaviors
Of course, it is also common for alcoholics and addicts in recovery to substitute addictions that are not productive or healthy. For example, one of the more popular substitutions is for alcoholics to begin smoking marijuana, which is known as marijuana maintenance.
Addicts who were strung out on heroin or methamphetamine will also substitute marijuana, using the argument that it is not nearly as harmful. There are many other behaviors that can become compulsive -- gambling, sex, video games, shopping -- that are neither healthy nor productive for someone trying to maintain a sober lifestyle.
If you are in follow-up care in your professional rehab program, your counselor will point out the dangers of these choices, because they can easily lead to a relapse and are counter-productive to your long-term recovery.
Finding a Balance
Your continuing care treatment counselor will ask you about your activities in recovery and try to determine if you are becoming compulsive with any of your behaviors. This is a topic discussed by most counselors because substituting addictions is such a common occurrence.
You will be encouraged to make recovery-related activities a top priority of the structure of your daily schedule. Your counselor will remind you of the importance of meeting your personal needs and the benefit of relaxation and leisure activities.
The key to long-term, healthy recovery is to find a balance in your life by working, relaxing, eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep while avoiding overscheduling and overworking.
An Exception to the Rule
There is one area that you may become compulsive about that your counselor will not discourage -- getting involved in your 12-step or support group program. It is also fairly common for people new to recovery to become compulsive about participating in their support groups, sometimes to the point of attending several meetings a day.
Although this recovery behavior can indeed become compulsive to the point that you develop a dependency on your group, those issues will be addressed by your counselor at a later point in your recovery. In the early months of your rehab, your counselor will probably encourage your active participation in Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous and/or other mutual support groups.
Remember God does not create garbage
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Looking at Step One
Hi all it has been awhile and I believe it is time we revisited Step one; Admitted we were powerless over ------------------------, and that our lives had become unmanageable.
I remember when I first heard this step I was completely taken aback, and it repulsed me, the audacity to think that I was Powerless, and then to say my life was unmanageable. To me this was utter nonsense. Powerless I think not, the only way I was powerless was if you had me at gunpoint and/or you had me in handcuffs. As for as unmanageable, well I always managed to get what I needed/wanted, one way or another. Whether it is drugs, alcohol, a place to stay, money, whatever. However after listening to other members I soon came to see that I might have a “wee” bit of a problem. That was when I was lucky enough to be introduced to the program and some very knowledgeable people. They introduced me a “program of Recovery” as suggested by the father of all 12 step organizations, “The Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous, in which it says to take “pen to paper”. It was during this process that I began to see the truth about self.
It was in writing my first step one, in my own words, not by a case manager, making it proper or a lawyer, hoping to make me look good and filling in justifications, it was me in my own words, the truth. In black and white, no more dodging, no more rat ionizations, no more denial, just the facts. It should me how it was just my ego that was so offended. It showed me how much my life was controlled by drugs, alcohol, wanting to be accepted, sex, and the list went on. It also showed how little control I had over any of it. It also became quite evident that my life was in total disarray, I had either lost or in the process of losing everything, from money, homes, possessions, relationships family, everything. I called that manageable; in what world was I living??
And yet today, how easy is it for ego to attempt to reassert itself. To think I have power. Yet the truth is I have the power of choice today, the ability to choose what and who is in my life, the power to choose how I react to life’s situations. At the same time remembering that I am powerless over people, places and things. And to remember that when I attempt to manage my life, I can quickly ruin everything, that I am better off with a higher power in my life to manage my day to day affairs.
Remember God does not create garbage
I remember when I first heard this step I was completely taken aback, and it repulsed me, the audacity to think that I was Powerless, and then to say my life was unmanageable. To me this was utter nonsense. Powerless I think not, the only way I was powerless was if you had me at gunpoint and/or you had me in handcuffs. As for as unmanageable, well I always managed to get what I needed/wanted, one way or another. Whether it is drugs, alcohol, a place to stay, money, whatever. However after listening to other members I soon came to see that I might have a “wee” bit of a problem. That was when I was lucky enough to be introduced to the program and some very knowledgeable people. They introduced me a “program of Recovery” as suggested by the father of all 12 step organizations, “The Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous, in which it says to take “pen to paper”. It was during this process that I began to see the truth about self.
It was in writing my first step one, in my own words, not by a case manager, making it proper or a lawyer, hoping to make me look good and filling in justifications, it was me in my own words, the truth. In black and white, no more dodging, no more rat ionizations, no more denial, just the facts. It should me how it was just my ego that was so offended. It showed me how much my life was controlled by drugs, alcohol, wanting to be accepted, sex, and the list went on. It also showed how little control I had over any of it. It also became quite evident that my life was in total disarray, I had either lost or in the process of losing everything, from money, homes, possessions, relationships family, everything. I called that manageable; in what world was I living??
And yet today, how easy is it for ego to attempt to reassert itself. To think I have power. Yet the truth is I have the power of choice today, the ability to choose what and who is in my life, the power to choose how I react to life’s situations. At the same time remembering that I am powerless over people, places and things. And to remember that when I attempt to manage my life, I can quickly ruin everything, that I am better off with a higher power in my life to manage my day to day affairs.
Remember God does not create garbage
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The Power of Choice
By committing yourself to “The Program” you receive many gifts, Along with the gift of sobriety comes the gift of a new life. It is akin to being reborn; through sobriety you become freed from the chains of using and/or drinking, freed from the compulsion to use and/or drink free from the lifestyle associated with that old lifestyle. By following “The Program” you will find freedom from shame and guilt, Freedom from all those things that held you back. Being clean and sober will give you a whole new perspective, and through the use of the program a whole new bright perspective on the whole world and mostly your future. Through your new perception and learning that you have a choice. Everything now becomes possible because now you have control of how you view life and more importantly you now can choose your path and the world you live in. Life does not stop happening , However you now have the choice in how you view, you are no longer forced to see things as impossible, obstacles and barriers, you can now see things as stepping stones to a higher self and to a greater life and future, You now have that choice. The world is still the same the world and people, places and things have not changed, what has changed is how you choose to view it and how you choose to react and rise above it all.
Remember God does not create garbage
Remember God does not create garbage
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Meetings a place of miracles ???
There were numerous times we used and/or drank as a social lubricant, to be able to overcome fears and/or shyness, we used and drank to get closer to others, to be able to express ourselves more openly, overall many times it was to just feel part of, to fit in. Or as a wonderful lady I heard speak, put it she used to feel “wittier, prettier and tittier”. We came from a place of feeling less than, we use and drink and become ego maniacs with an inferiority complex.
The drinking and using gave us false courage, it formed the illusion that my lady friend was speaking of, for periods of time it allowed us to feel part of, however as our drinking and/or using careers progressed, it ceased to work the way it once had, It also increased the walls we had felt between us and others. The exact reason we had used and/or drank was now creating the walls even bigger than ever. Some of the reason for this was the build up and/or shame that came with our continued use and the behaviour that the increased use brought with it.
However now as we gradually bring ourselves to attending, these god forsaken meetings, a miraculous thing begins to happen. At the meetings we see a fellowship and we eventually tread into this fellowship. It is in this fellowship that we find others of our kind, others who know the feeling we have, the fears we cringe from, the shame and guilt we carry. It is in these shared burdens and pain that we begin to see ourselves and begin a relationship with others, as never before, the thing we have always wanted, yet in the same breath were afraid of and still are to a degree. It is also here that we learn that a miracle is possible we can have these kinds of relationships. By following “The Program” we learned about in this fellowship. It is possible to find this closeness to others, the way to destroy the walls that had made us feel separate from others, the walls that made it impossible to feel love. Oh yes we had loved or at least believed we had loved, however we were never truly able to feel the love of others completely. The wall was always there, the thing that had us believe that we were different and apart from others, between the fellowship and mostly the program, that feeling of apartness can be forever obliterated. The choice is now ours. It is possible to know unity and love beyond our experience and/or what we once believed to be out of our reach.
Remember God does not create garbage
The drinking and using gave us false courage, it formed the illusion that my lady friend was speaking of, for periods of time it allowed us to feel part of, however as our drinking and/or using careers progressed, it ceased to work the way it once had, It also increased the walls we had felt between us and others. The exact reason we had used and/or drank was now creating the walls even bigger than ever. Some of the reason for this was the build up and/or shame that came with our continued use and the behaviour that the increased use brought with it.
However now as we gradually bring ourselves to attending, these god forsaken meetings, a miraculous thing begins to happen. At the meetings we see a fellowship and we eventually tread into this fellowship. It is in this fellowship that we find others of our kind, others who know the feeling we have, the fears we cringe from, the shame and guilt we carry. It is in these shared burdens and pain that we begin to see ourselves and begin a relationship with others, as never before, the thing we have always wanted, yet in the same breath were afraid of and still are to a degree. It is also here that we learn that a miracle is possible we can have these kinds of relationships. By following “The Program” we learned about in this fellowship. It is possible to find this closeness to others, the way to destroy the walls that had made us feel separate from others, the walls that made it impossible to feel love. Oh yes we had loved or at least believed we had loved, however we were never truly able to feel the love of others completely. The wall was always there, the thing that had us believe that we were different and apart from others, between the fellowship and mostly the program, that feeling of apartness can be forever obliterated. The choice is now ours. It is possible to know unity and love beyond our experience and/or what we once believed to be out of our reach.
Remember God does not create garbage
Friday, January 21, 2011
Are You Motivated to Change? - By Julie Fuimano
You talk about how you want something different in your life -- a new house, a better relationship with your spouse (or to find a spouse), get out of debt, or lose weight -- but nothing changes. You find that you spend (waste) a lot of time talking about it, but not doing anything about it.
How do you motivate yourself to change?
There are two ways people will change, either by choice or by force. Neither one is very pretty.
Change by Force
'By force' means that you have no choice. For example, you lose your job so you have to find a new one. Your doctor gives you bad news about your health so now you have to lose weight...or else suffer the consequences. Your husband is having an affair; this forces you to divorce.
There are times when you know you need to change and you think about it, but instead of being proactive like seeking new employment before your workplace lays you off or talking to financial planner before you go into foreclosure, you sabotage things. You wait until things get so bad you are forced into action.
Force is not pretty because you cannot choose to move forward and create something new; you HAVE to or else suffer the consequences.
Change by Choice
The other option is to CHOOSE change. Choosing to change means that you have become willing to do whatever it takes to make a change in your life. You sacrifice your 'comforts' of the way things are in exchange for the hopes of something better.
Choosing change is great in that it allows you to be proactive. Instead of waiting for the forces of fate to push you into moving and making a change, you take the actions needed to move forward.
This isn't pretty either because any way you look at it, change is hard. There are forces at work that are meant to keep you right where you are. For instance, fear is a big obstacle to change. So are habits.
But fear of the consequences is also a motivator for change. If you are scared to die, and most people are, then you might be more willing to give up greasy foods as recommended by your doctor so you can continue to live and enjoy yourself, your relationships, and your work.
Overwhelm is another big hurdle to change. You see all that needs to be accomplished in order to change and you become overwhelmed. This DE-motivates you, or, rather, motivates you to continue along your current path no matter how unhappy you may be.
So how does one break through the barriers and choose change?
Two Motivators for Change
We humans will move toward pleasure and away from pain. It's that simple. But not so easy.
People endure a lot of pain without realizing it. You put up with so much stuff that you do not like, that causes you pain and frustration and aggravation. You hold tight to old wounds and repeat damaging behaviors. Day after day, you are bombarded by life's negative forces and you do battle, often without realizing just how much of a fight you withstand. Until, of course, at the end of the day when you crash from exhaustion!
You might also have much difficulty being happy and enjoying pleasurable experiences. It may sound funny, but true happiness comes from within; in a world where most people are so busy and full of worry, happiness and joy is left on a wish list somewhere.
Change is possible.
You can learn to sensitize yourself to your pain. You can also learn how to be happy and enjoy yourself. But you cannot do either if you are running on a treadmill. You have to slow down enough to assess your life and learn about yourself -- your likes, your dislikes, what makes you unhappy or uncomfortable, where you are frustrated or angry -- before you can begin to change anything.
So here is your coaching challenge; it is twofold.
1) Pay attention to your emotions and identify what frustrates you or annoys you in your life. Where are you angry, disappointed, or uncomfortable? List these things in a notebook. Identifying them and writing them out is cathartic in that it raises your awareness and you become sensitive to where you are hurting. Many of these items you can eliminate quite easily. Others will take some time. Go slow -- there is no rush.
We start with identifying what hurts because this way we can create space for what feels good. Many people have so much pain that they don't know what they want; they just know they cannot take it anymore!
If you know you want something better in your life that's great! But don't skip doing the exercise above. You are still living with annoyances and old hurts that will hold you back and interfere with happiness and success if you continue to allow it. You first have to unearth these things so you can deal with them.
2) What do you envision for yourself? What do you want? What would make you happy? A vision is a compelling force that will solidify your commitment and pull you toward it. It provides direction for your thoughts and actions. Without vision, how will you know where you are going? You will continue to be buffeted by the circumstances of the day, throwing your power to the wind.
Identify your pain; envision your pleasure. Start saying no to what feels bad and start thinking about and considering what feels good. That's your work for now. Let me know how I can support your success.
Remember God does not create garbage
How do you motivate yourself to change?
There are two ways people will change, either by choice or by force. Neither one is very pretty.
Change by Force
'By force' means that you have no choice. For example, you lose your job so you have to find a new one. Your doctor gives you bad news about your health so now you have to lose weight...or else suffer the consequences. Your husband is having an affair; this forces you to divorce.
There are times when you know you need to change and you think about it, but instead of being proactive like seeking new employment before your workplace lays you off or talking to financial planner before you go into foreclosure, you sabotage things. You wait until things get so bad you are forced into action.
Force is not pretty because you cannot choose to move forward and create something new; you HAVE to or else suffer the consequences.
Change by Choice
The other option is to CHOOSE change. Choosing to change means that you have become willing to do whatever it takes to make a change in your life. You sacrifice your 'comforts' of the way things are in exchange for the hopes of something better.
Choosing change is great in that it allows you to be proactive. Instead of waiting for the forces of fate to push you into moving and making a change, you take the actions needed to move forward.
This isn't pretty either because any way you look at it, change is hard. There are forces at work that are meant to keep you right where you are. For instance, fear is a big obstacle to change. So are habits.
But fear of the consequences is also a motivator for change. If you are scared to die, and most people are, then you might be more willing to give up greasy foods as recommended by your doctor so you can continue to live and enjoy yourself, your relationships, and your work.
Overwhelm is another big hurdle to change. You see all that needs to be accomplished in order to change and you become overwhelmed. This DE-motivates you, or, rather, motivates you to continue along your current path no matter how unhappy you may be.
So how does one break through the barriers and choose change?
Two Motivators for Change
We humans will move toward pleasure and away from pain. It's that simple. But not so easy.
People endure a lot of pain without realizing it. You put up with so much stuff that you do not like, that causes you pain and frustration and aggravation. You hold tight to old wounds and repeat damaging behaviors. Day after day, you are bombarded by life's negative forces and you do battle, often without realizing just how much of a fight you withstand. Until, of course, at the end of the day when you crash from exhaustion!
You might also have much difficulty being happy and enjoying pleasurable experiences. It may sound funny, but true happiness comes from within; in a world where most people are so busy and full of worry, happiness and joy is left on a wish list somewhere.
Change is possible.
You can learn to sensitize yourself to your pain. You can also learn how to be happy and enjoy yourself. But you cannot do either if you are running on a treadmill. You have to slow down enough to assess your life and learn about yourself -- your likes, your dislikes, what makes you unhappy or uncomfortable, where you are frustrated or angry -- before you can begin to change anything.
So here is your coaching challenge; it is twofold.
1) Pay attention to your emotions and identify what frustrates you or annoys you in your life. Where are you angry, disappointed, or uncomfortable? List these things in a notebook. Identifying them and writing them out is cathartic in that it raises your awareness and you become sensitive to where you are hurting. Many of these items you can eliminate quite easily. Others will take some time. Go slow -- there is no rush.
We start with identifying what hurts because this way we can create space for what feels good. Many people have so much pain that they don't know what they want; they just know they cannot take it anymore!
If you know you want something better in your life that's great! But don't skip doing the exercise above. You are still living with annoyances and old hurts that will hold you back and interfere with happiness and success if you continue to allow it. You first have to unearth these things so you can deal with them.
2) What do you envision for yourself? What do you want? What would make you happy? A vision is a compelling force that will solidify your commitment and pull you toward it. It provides direction for your thoughts and actions. Without vision, how will you know where you are going? You will continue to be buffeted by the circumstances of the day, throwing your power to the wind.
Identify your pain; envision your pleasure. Start saying no to what feels bad and start thinking about and considering what feels good. That's your work for now. Let me know how I can support your success.
Remember God does not create garbage
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Why do I need Meetings?
In early recovery meetings are your thread to sanity, they are life blood. Studies have shown that those in early recovery who go to 3 meetings or more per week have a 67% better chance of getting clean and sober than those who do not. Those are pretty good odds, if you truly want to have a better life and change, I would absolutely suggest you take advantage of anything that will give you an edge. How does going to meetings give you an edge? Well first off they are a safer place to be than just about anywhere else you would go , You are more than likely not going to be getting drunk or high at a meeting,. Secondly you are will be with others just like you, those who understand your pain, your shame, your guilt, your fears and those that feel or have felt just exactly how you feel. Thirdly you will meet those who can help you recover. Fourthly you will learn here of “The Program” that will change your life—that will give you a new life.
Yes you will meet “sick people” there, hell you’re sick. This is where the sick come to get healed. We are all sick damaged people just working together to be better people “one day at a time”. However yes there are some that are sicker than others, yet they too can recover. And yes there are a few that are just sick and don’t bother to change. However perhaps one day. You need to listen with your heart rather than your head, when you listen with your heart, you will hear those who speak the “language of the heart”; those are the ones you want to be around. They will show you “the Program”, which will give you a new life. Meetings are where we find the directions to the path and the answers, which are in the Program. Meetings alone may possibly get you clean and sober however they will not grant you long term sobriety, and a new lease on life. Only the Program will do this for you. However the paradox is: it is you and you alone, with the support of your sponsor, support system, and possibly a recovery coach, that will get you a new lease on life. YOU have to do the work, albeit all those in “the program” will help, however only you can do the work. Nobody, not the best sponsor in the world, not the best support system in the world and definitely not the best recovery coach and/or counsellor can do this for you. However meetings are where you find all these things and more. As well as some of the best support and help available in the world, just remember to listen with your heart, for the “language of the heart” for in meetings is where it is spoken.
Remember God does not create garbage
Yes you will meet “sick people” there, hell you’re sick. This is where the sick come to get healed. We are all sick damaged people just working together to be better people “one day at a time”. However yes there are some that are sicker than others, yet they too can recover. And yes there are a few that are just sick and don’t bother to change. However perhaps one day. You need to listen with your heart rather than your head, when you listen with your heart, you will hear those who speak the “language of the heart”; those are the ones you want to be around. They will show you “the Program”, which will give you a new life. Meetings are where we find the directions to the path and the answers, which are in the Program. Meetings alone may possibly get you clean and sober however they will not grant you long term sobriety, and a new lease on life. Only the Program will do this for you. However the paradox is: it is you and you alone, with the support of your sponsor, support system, and possibly a recovery coach, that will get you a new lease on life. YOU have to do the work, albeit all those in “the program” will help, however only you can do the work. Nobody, not the best sponsor in the world, not the best support system in the world and definitely not the best recovery coach and/or counsellor can do this for you. However meetings are where you find all these things and more. As well as some of the best support and help available in the world, just remember to listen with your heart, for the “language of the heart” for in meetings is where it is spoken.
Remember God does not create garbage
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Staying the Course Or Keeping the Faith
This is the hard part, all this talk of trusting the inner most selves or the intuitive self, you know the part of you that instinctively knows right from wrong, is easy to say and nice words. Yet when the tire meets the road or in all reality it is not that easy to follow. The fear sets in; it gnaws in the back of your mind. The questions of fear come up, like what happens if I don’t have enough? And all those other real fears, you know the ones. Let’s face it we all want to be responsible, and we all want to have the means to be responsible, to pay our bills and get the things we need and want. Yet again the fears set in. What happens if I don’t have enough to pay all my bills? Or get those things for the family? Or what happens if I fall even farther behind? How will I ever catch up? We tend to start to bend to those fears, we start looking for short cuts. For the easier softer way.
Well isn’t that what faith is all about? There is an old saying” if you worry, don’t pray. If you pray don’t worry”. Again, I know easy words. However it is not such easy words, I do not speak from a place of wealth where it is easy to say such things as I have the means anyway. I speak from the same boat as you. I have not the means today; however I do trust that the means will be made available. My history has shown such, in the darkest of times things happen and I make it through. Not how I wish they could be, I don’t win the big lottery or get the great big bonus, I just find a way to get by. Yes I do wish to do more than just get by; however just for today that is what is happening. I do not suffer, the main reason I do not suffer is I usually stay away from worry and fear. I would like to say I never fear or worry, however that would be a lie. However 95 % of the time I do. It is especially difficult when my partner‘s level of anxiety is up and she shares that, and/or when there are more pressing family needs and/or wants. However that is when more prayer is required and faith, as well as a look to the past. Has not my God led me through in the past, and has not my God gotten me to where I am today, which is basically everything I need at this precise moment as well as clean and sober and a better life than before. I do not believe that my God has brought me this far just to leave me hanging or to desert me. The only way for it to get bad is for me to take charge without faith and to backslide on doing what is right and what is right in front of me. I must continue in faith that my God has my best interests in heart and hand.
Remember God does not create garbage
Well isn’t that what faith is all about? There is an old saying” if you worry, don’t pray. If you pray don’t worry”. Again, I know easy words. However it is not such easy words, I do not speak from a place of wealth where it is easy to say such things as I have the means anyway. I speak from the same boat as you. I have not the means today; however I do trust that the means will be made available. My history has shown such, in the darkest of times things happen and I make it through. Not how I wish they could be, I don’t win the big lottery or get the great big bonus, I just find a way to get by. Yes I do wish to do more than just get by; however just for today that is what is happening. I do not suffer, the main reason I do not suffer is I usually stay away from worry and fear. I would like to say I never fear or worry, however that would be a lie. However 95 % of the time I do. It is especially difficult when my partner‘s level of anxiety is up and she shares that, and/or when there are more pressing family needs and/or wants. However that is when more prayer is required and faith, as well as a look to the past. Has not my God led me through in the past, and has not my God gotten me to where I am today, which is basically everything I need at this precise moment as well as clean and sober and a better life than before. I do not believe that my God has brought me this far just to leave me hanging or to desert me. The only way for it to get bad is for me to take charge without faith and to backslide on doing what is right and what is right in front of me. I must continue in faith that my God has my best interests in heart and hand.
Remember God does not create garbage
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I am Truly Grateful
Good day to all. I am going to stray a little from the usual context of recent posts today and tell you something of my week end. This past weekend was my birthday. I turned 51 on Saturday. To some this might seem old, sometimes it seems old to me, when I consider the number and/or consider what I was once capable of physically. Yet usually I still see myself around twenty that is till I’m around those that around that age. It is amazing how age creeps up on you.
Well this past Saturday, my step-daughter was scheduled to attend her first Cheer leading competition. So we had to attend this out of town and as it happens it was in the city where we moved from over two years ago. Actually the city where I spent most of my clean time in. So as it happens my dear wife contacted a few of our friends (well some of my old friends from recovery) in this town and set-up a little get together. So after My step daughter’s competition, in which her team placed second. This in itself is a great accomplishment considering they did not have their music until the last practise. We went to my friends, where we saw a few dear friends, who out of friendship had taken time out of their lives and schedules to have this get together in their home. Where we played cards, conversed of old times and new, complete with a few cards, birthday cake and the required singing of “Happy Birthday”. It was just so touching of the effort by my dear wife and a few of my oldest and dearest friends. The ones who together have seen each other during their good times and their low times. It was to my once again the difference between acquaintances and friends. It was very special and touching to see these people and to see them acknowledge my birthday after so long a time and see them take the time and effort. This was one of the real true blessings that recovery has given me. Especially when I look back before recovery and think who would have taken the time and effort to do something like this for me, never mind, people that I haven’t really spent time with in years. This is what God and Recovery has given me.
Remember God does not create garbage
Well this past Saturday, my step-daughter was scheduled to attend her first Cheer leading competition. So we had to attend this out of town and as it happens it was in the city where we moved from over two years ago. Actually the city where I spent most of my clean time in. So as it happens my dear wife contacted a few of our friends (well some of my old friends from recovery) in this town and set-up a little get together. So after My step daughter’s competition, in which her team placed second. This in itself is a great accomplishment considering they did not have their music until the last practise. We went to my friends, where we saw a few dear friends, who out of friendship had taken time out of their lives and schedules to have this get together in their home. Where we played cards, conversed of old times and new, complete with a few cards, birthday cake and the required singing of “Happy Birthday”. It was just so touching of the effort by my dear wife and a few of my oldest and dearest friends. The ones who together have seen each other during their good times and their low times. It was to my once again the difference between acquaintances and friends. It was very special and touching to see these people and to see them acknowledge my birthday after so long a time and see them take the time and effort. This was one of the real true blessings that recovery has given me. Especially when I look back before recovery and think who would have taken the time and effort to do something like this for me, never mind, people that I haven’t really spent time with in years. This is what God and Recovery has given me.
Remember God does not create garbage
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