Hello everyone! My name is Bianka. I would like to give you another warm welcome to Detox to Rehab’s Recovery Reflections. Please join us each Monday at 12 pm PST on our Facebook page to listen to the experience, strength and hope shared by Reisto, Connor, Corey and myself.
We will live stream a reading from Narcotics Anonymous: Just for Today and Alcoholics Anonymous: Daily Reflections. We express how this reading has helped our recovery or how it has impacted us. Please join us, engage as an audience member, post questions and or leave feedback for us at 12 pm PST. We thank you and hope we can inspire your recovery journey!
Narcotics Anonymous
January 23, 2017: Serenity Check
“Lack of daily maintenance can show up in many ways.” – Basic Text p. 91
Ever had a perfect stranger remark about how great the weather was, only to reply “It stinks”? When this happens, we are probably suffering from a lack of daily maintenance in our program.
In recovery, life can get pretty hectic. Maybe those added responsibilities at work have got you hopping. Maybe you haven’t been to a meeting for a while. Perhaps you’ve been too busy to meditate, or haven’t been eating regularly or sleeping well. Whatever the reason, your serenity is slipping.
When this happens, it is crucial that we take action. We can’t afford to let one bad day, complete with a bad attitude, slip into two days, four days, or a week. Our recovery depends on our daily maintenance program. No matter what is happening in our lives, we can’t afford to neglect the principles that have saved our lives.
There are many ways to recover our serenity. We can go to a meeting, phone our sponsor, meet another recovering addict for lunch, or try to carry the message to a newcomer. We can pray. We can take a moment to ask ourselves what simple things we haven’t been doing. When our attitudes head downhill, we can avert a crash with simple solutions.
Just for today: I will examine the maintenance of my daily program of recovery.
Just for Today: http://www.justfortodaymeditations.com/daily-recovery-readings-january-23/
Maintaining Recovery
In recovery, everything is not going to be rainbows and butterflies. Life will happen and you will face challenges. You might face a challenge at work because you were tasked with something new or with the law for a speeding ticket. However, you have the tools most people don’t to keep your cool. It is your job to put them to work.
If you don’t put the tools we have learned in the 12-step program to work we will lose our serenity. When we lose our serenity, we lose our recovery and when our recovery is gone, we are gone too. This is the time we need to step up and take action so we don’t lose everything we worked so hard for. When taking action, you can go to a meeting, call your sponsor, practice prayer, work with a new comer, and so much more.
“It defiantly plays a huge part in my attitude,” Connor said.
When you don’t maintain your recovery, it shows in every aspect in your life. Therefore, it is vital to keep up on our recovery no matter what life throws our way. Without recovery, we don’t have anything.
“I’ll be pissed for a moment but it won’t ruin my whole day,” Corey said.
Just because we maintain our recovery it doesn’t mean we are not human. We still feel feelings and uncomfortable emotions. The only difference is we don’t let that one moment of anger last all day. We feel the emotion and move on. We can do that today. In active addiction, we were incapable of living a life of serenity. We need to thank our Higher Power each day for our recovery- without it we wouldn’t be anywhere close to where we are in life today.
AA and NA
The NA: Just for Today focuses on maintaining serenity in recovery AA: Daily reflections puts attention on having fun without drugs and alcohol. While each reading is somewhat different, they share the same importance. They give me confidence and guide me in the right direction. Also, it reminds me of how lucky I am to be living a life of recovery.
Alcoholics Anonymous
January 23, 2017: HAVING FUN YET?
“. . . we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders.” – Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 132
When my own house is in order, I find the different parts of my life are more manageable. Stripped from the guilt and remorse that clocked my drinking years, I am free to assume my proper role in the universe, but this condition requires maintenance. I should stop and ask myself, Am I having fun yet? If I find answering that question difficult or painful, perhaps I’m taking myself too seriously – and finding it difficult to admit that I’ve strayed from my practice of working the program to keep my house in order. I think the pain I experience is one way my Higher Power has to get my attention, coaxing me to take stock of my performance. The slight time and effort it takes to work the program – a spot-check inventory, for example, or the making of amends, whatever is appropriate – are well worth the effort.
Alcoholics Anonymous: http://www.justfortodaymeditations.com/daily-recovery-readings-january-23/
Have Fun
Just because we are clean and sober doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to let loose and have a good time. It is actually a part of our job as recovering addicts and alcoholics to have a good time and enjoy life. Even though life can get distracting and serious at times there is nothing wrong with a huge smile and good laugh.
“I love my life today,” I said.
I mean it when I say it, I truly love the life I have today and it is all because I have recovery and always make time for a good laugh. It is not a good idea to take things to seriously. It burns up so much energy making you tire easily. However, I am not perfect and there are times where I forget there is such thing as fun.
“My whole day is off because I didn’t live up to my own expectations,” I said.
If I end up taking myself to seriously- I get angry. I will set too high of expectations for myself and throw my whole day off. I will get agitated easily and take everything serious. However, I can bounce back when I realize it is happening. There is always room for a little fun. Recovery is much more fun than getting loaded.
When I was getting loaded I was looking for drugs then getting high. That is all I did. I was homeless and there was little hope for me. I didn’t remember what it was like to laugh but I remembered what it was like to cry because I was crying almost every day. Though life I recovery can get tough and you can forget about having fun- it is better than the alternative. Get clean and sober today. I can promise you it is better than the life you are living.
1 comment
Interesting comment regarding the relation to the pain you are feeling and your Higher Power. We will always have our crosses to bear. Peace.