Recovery Reflections
Hey guys! Bianka Fisk here again to welcome you to Detox to Rehab’s reflections. We want you to join us each Monday at noon on our Facebook page. Join us to listen to our addiction recovery experience, strength and hope shared by Connor, Breana, and myself.
We will live stream reading from Alcoholics Anonymous: Daily Reflections and Narcotic Anonymous: Just for Today. We speak on how this reading has helped our recovery. Please join us, post questions, and/or leave feedback for us at noon. We thank you and hope we can influence your recovery journey!
AA: Daily Reflections
September 19th: Acceptance
We admitted we couldn’t lick alcohol with our own remaining resources, and so we accepted the further fact that dependence upon a Higher Power (if only our A.A. group) could do this hitherto impossible job. The moment we were able to accept these facts fully, our release from the alcohol compulsion had begun.
— As Bill Sees It, p. 109
You can read the entire AA Daily Reflection here.
Let’s Talk About Acceptance
“When I joined a program I could reach a connection with my own higher power and when I am able to turn my will over I can then take the actions I think are right,” Connor said.
In order to stay clean and sober, I need to learn how to accept that I am no longer in charge of my life. My higher power is. When I ran on self-will without the help of my higher power, I ended up getting drunk and high. There was no benefit of living off my egotistical wants or needs, I needed a change and I got it when I joined a 12-step program. After I sought help from something greater than myself, I got addiction recovery experience and accepted I am no longer the one running the show.
“Some things are a lot easier to accept than others,” Breana said.
Although I am no longer in control of my life, it is still difficult to give my willpower over in certain situations. When I realize I am not living in acceptance to whatever the situation is, I take a step back and remember that my stubbornness takes me to dark places. It is then I rewind and accept that my higher power has my back and whatever happens, happens for a reason.
When I said, “I accept that I am not in control because if I am in control I get myself high,” I meant it. My self-will gets me loaded and takes me to some unpleasant places. I truly believe If I would have found a 12-step program and gave my will and my life over to a care of my higher power sooner, I wouldn’t have had to live through everything I did in my active addiction. I had to survive a lot of situations that would have been much easier to endure if I just let down my guard and gave it all to my higher power.
Working a 12-step program doesn’t make me a perfect person. I make mistakes, but what is different today is that I learn from them. I learn from these situations because I live in acceptance and have the opportunity to.
AA v.s NA
While the AA Daily Reflection focuses on acceptance and the necessity for a higher power, the NA Just for Today puts emphases on how important it is to fellowship among friends you meet in the 12-step rooms. Even though each reflection is very different, they share the same importance and reminds me on what I need to pay attention to in my recovery.
NA: Just for Today
September 19th: Fellowship
“In NA, our joys are multiplied by sharing good days; our sorrows are lessened by sharing the bad. For the first time in our lives, we don’t have to experience anything alone.”
— IP No. 16, For the Newcomer
Just for today: I will share my joys and my burdens with other recovering addicts. I will also share in theirs. I am grateful for the strong bonds of fellowship in Narcotics Anonymous.
You can read the full NA Just for Today reading here.
Fellowshipping is the Best
“Getting sober is difficult. It is something you can’t take on your own,” Connor said.
Getting sober is the most difficult but gratifying thing you will ever do and it is hard to accomplish on your own. Those with addiction recovery experience claim that this is why fellowshipping with others is so important. It is going to be uncomfortable for you to reach out and ask someone to hang out or go get coffee because you are so used to hanging out alone. But without fellowship the strong foundation you need in order to stay sober won’t be there.
“I never thought I could be the person that can be themselves but because of recovery, I can be,” I said.
Connor jumped into the conversation shortly after I have said that and explained, “my friends in recovery, working in recovery, is incredible. I have made connections with people I’ve never felt before. It is a beautiful thing.”
Although it is nerve-wracking to reach out to someone, the friendship you will get out of it is unfathomable. I say this only because it is true, the people in the rooms are just as goofy as me and will be the same as you. I can be myself and not worry about the judgment that would be thrown my way. I am so grateful for 12-step programs because in those rooms, I have met my second family all because of the fellowship.
“My family is supportive of my recovery 100 percent and that is all that matters,” Breana said.
Yes. I have met my second family but what about my real family? I burnt bridges with my family outside of the fellowship. Because of my recovery, I have them back. And just like Breana’s they are so supportive. I have a life with my family today. I have a life today, thanks to getting addiction recovery experience. If it wasn’t for a 12-step program and giving my will and my life over to the care of a higher power, and the fellowship I don’t think I would be the person I am today.
