I think just knowing someone else is suffering like me but is still trying is motivating. Plus other people's stories are fascinating to me. Some people have been through a lot more than I have.
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H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist
Recovery Just For Today
- Thread starter deficiT
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kiely
Bluelighter
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Well at least you can understand what someone else feels like when you have to feel things also. It helped to process everything better
then to not know or understand. Or even realize. Just keep on trying to get better it really works. Or at least we have that possible chance.
Keep trying. Little steps Big results. Keep as strong as possible though. Go for the gusto. You have to.
Smile too. It's energy. The good stuff. Please keep trying. Sending good energies and thoughts you way. Alright !
Keep strong and strength.
then to not know or understand. Or even realize. Just keep on trying to get better it really works. Or at least we have that possible chance.
Keep trying. Little steps Big results. Keep as strong as possible though. Go for the gusto. You have to.
Smile too. It's energy. The good stuff. Please keep trying. Sending good energies and thoughts you way. Alright !
Keep strong and strength.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2011
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- 25,362
Pain & struggle are universal, the degrees of severity in individuals aren't comparable. A headache to one, could be a crippling migraine to someone else.
- Joined
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November 14, 2024
Not just surviving
Page 332
"When we were using, our lives became an exercise in survival. Now we are doing much more living than surviving."
Basic Text, p. 52
"I'd be better off dead!" A familiar refrain to a practicing addict, and with good reason. All we had to look forward to was more of the same miserable existence. Our hold on life was weak at best. Our emotional decay, our spiritual demise, and the crushing awareness that nothing would ever change were constants. We had little hope and no concept of the life we were missing out on.
The resurrection of our emotions, our spirits, and our physical health takes time. The more experience we gain in living, rather than merely existing, the more we understand how precious and delightful life can be. Traveling, playing with a small child, making love, expanding our intellectual horizons, and forming relationships are among the endless activities that say, "I'm alive." We discover so much to cherish and feel grateful to have a second chance.
If we had died in active addiction, we would have been bitterly deprived of so many of life's joys. Each day we thank a Power greater than ourselves for another day clean and another day of life.
Just for Today: I am grateful to be alive. I will do something today to celebrate.
Not just surviving
Page 332
"When we were using, our lives became an exercise in survival. Now we are doing much more living than surviving."
Basic Text, p. 52
"I'd be better off dead!" A familiar refrain to a practicing addict, and with good reason. All we had to look forward to was more of the same miserable existence. Our hold on life was weak at best. Our emotional decay, our spiritual demise, and the crushing awareness that nothing would ever change were constants. We had little hope and no concept of the life we were missing out on.
The resurrection of our emotions, our spirits, and our physical health takes time. The more experience we gain in living, rather than merely existing, the more we understand how precious and delightful life can be. Traveling, playing with a small child, making love, expanding our intellectual horizons, and forming relationships are among the endless activities that say, "I'm alive." We discover so much to cherish and feel grateful to have a second chance.
If we had died in active addiction, we would have been bitterly deprived of so many of life's joys. Each day we thank a Power greater than ourselves for another day clean and another day of life.
Just for Today: I am grateful to be alive. I will do something today to celebrate.
kiely
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2022
- Messages
- 13,798
I hope I did this right. But if I didn't anyway, it sounds really pretty.
~~~
Alone no more
"We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."
Basic Text, p. 37
Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people--especially people who were not using--at all costs. After years of isolation, trying to find a place for ourselves in a bustling, sometimes boisterous fellowship is not always easy. We may still feel isolated, focusing on our differences rather than our similarities.
The overwhelming feelings that often arise in early recovery--feelings of fear, anger, and mistrust--can also keep us isolated. We may feel like aliens but we must remember, the alienation is ours, not NA's.
In Narcotics Anonymous, we are offered a very special opportunity for friendship. We are brought together with people who understand us like no one else can. We are encouraged to share with these people our feelings, our problems, our triumphs, and our failures.
Slowly, the recognition and identification we find in NA bridge the lonely gap of alienation in our hearts. As we've heard it said--the program works, if we let it.
Just for Today: The friendship of other members of the fellowship is a life-sustaining gift. I will reach out for the friendship that's offered in NA, and accept it.
~~~
Alone no more
"We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."
Basic Text, p. 37
Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people--especially people who were not using--at all costs. After years of isolation, trying to find a place for ourselves in a bustling, sometimes boisterous fellowship is not always easy. We may still feel isolated, focusing on our differences rather than our similarities.
The overwhelming feelings that often arise in early recovery--feelings of fear, anger, and mistrust--can also keep us isolated. We may feel like aliens but we must remember, the alienation is ours, not NA's.
In Narcotics Anonymous, we are offered a very special opportunity for friendship. We are brought together with people who understand us like no one else can. We are encouraged to share with these people our feelings, our problems, our triumphs, and our failures.
Slowly, the recognition and identification we find in NA bridge the lonely gap of alienation in our hearts. As we've heard it said--the program works, if we let it.
Just for Today: The friendship of other members of the fellowship is a life-sustaining gift. I will reach out for the friendship that's offered in NA, and accept it.
paltatomate
Bluelight Crew
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- Oct 7, 2022
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- 11,082
this is so true for many people, not just addicts.
kiely
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2022
- Messages
- 13,798
It is bad enough right and then just add addiction, and or normalcy
.They have such good advice ... even with the this and the that.
With slow learning that I have, it's always a daily battle too
or seems to be. Somehow.
Just saying hi. And thank you for your post. I was just fascinated at how
you said and how it stood out when you said "many people."
I so appreciate your abilities to relate to "all" and finding ways to
help others. Which then will butterfly effect.
What a feel good post !!!!
Anyway, nice to hear from you.
And be good to yourselves. Everyone. Focus on Wellness as a happy alternative.
This can then make you feel better.
Learn to grow.
kiely
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2022
- Messages
- 13,798
I am better off if I write something and then copy and paste instead of just shooting out a
quick response.
But I really do appreciate you and your context. And I am sincerely glad that you are here.
Cool to meet you too !! Way.
I hope that you can find a way to deal with your stress and everything.
I never will. I only hope. Just, but most of all try.
Life is a long drawn out ride. With bumps and cool breezes. I just made that up.
Opps there I go again.
take care.
Everyone: Stick with good habits by keeping this thread up !!
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- Mar 7, 2011
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- 25,362
Thank you for posting. I'm feeling a bit too cynical and jaded at the moment to continue posting these.I hope I did this right. But if I didn't anyway, it sounds really pretty.
~~~
Alone no more
"We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."
Basic Text, p. 37
Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people--especially people who were not using--at all costs. After years of isolation, trying to find a place for ourselves in a bustling, sometimes boisterous fellowship is not always easy. We may still feel isolated, focusing on our differences rather than our similarities.
The overwhelming feelings that often arise in early recovery--feelings of fear, anger, and mistrust--can also keep us isolated. We may feel like aliens but we must remember, the alienation is ours, not NA's.
In Narcotics Anonymous, we are offered a very special opportunity for friendship. We are brought together with people who understand us like no one else can. We are encouraged to share with these people our feelings, our problems, our triumphs, and our failures.
Slowly, the recognition and identification we find in NA bridge the lonely gap of alienation in our hearts. As we've heard it said--the program works, if we let it.
Just for Today: The friendship of other members of the fellowship is a life-sustaining gift. I will reach out for the friendship that's offered in NA, and accept it.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2011
- Messages
- 25,362
November 20, 2024
Finding fulfillment
Page 338
"We weren't oriented toward fulfillment; we focused on the emptiness and worthlessness of it all."
Basic Text, p. 89
There were probably hundreds of times in our active addiction when we wished we could become someone else. We may have wished we could trade places with someone who owned a nice car or had a larger home, a better job, a more attractive mate--anything but what we had. So severe was our despair that we could hardly imagine anyone being in worse shape than ourselves.
In recovery, we may find we are experiencing a different sort of envy. We may continue to compare our insides with others' outsides and feel as though we still don't have enough of anything. We may think everyone, from the newest member to the oldest oldtimer, sounds better at meetings than we do. We may think that everyone else must be working a better program because they have a better car, a larger home, more money, and so on.
The recovery process experienced through our Twelve Steps will take us from an attitude of envy and low self-esteem to a place of spiritual fulfillment and deep appreciation for what we do have. We find that we would never willingly trade places with another, for what we have discovered within ourselves is priceless.
Just for Today: There is much to be grateful for in my life. I will cherish the spiritual fulfillment I have found in recovery.
Finding fulfillment
Page 338
"We weren't oriented toward fulfillment; we focused on the emptiness and worthlessness of it all."
Basic Text, p. 89
There were probably hundreds of times in our active addiction when we wished we could become someone else. We may have wished we could trade places with someone who owned a nice car or had a larger home, a better job, a more attractive mate--anything but what we had. So severe was our despair that we could hardly imagine anyone being in worse shape than ourselves.
In recovery, we may find we are experiencing a different sort of envy. We may continue to compare our insides with others' outsides and feel as though we still don't have enough of anything. We may think everyone, from the newest member to the oldest oldtimer, sounds better at meetings than we do. We may think that everyone else must be working a better program because they have a better car, a larger home, more money, and so on.
The recovery process experienced through our Twelve Steps will take us from an attitude of envy and low self-esteem to a place of spiritual fulfillment and deep appreciation for what we do have. We find that we would never willingly trade places with another, for what we have discovered within ourselves is priceless.
Just for Today: There is much to be grateful for in my life. I will cherish the spiritual fulfillment I have found in recovery.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2011
- Messages
- 25,362
^^ that one did resonate enough with me to post.
Just as an FYI, should anyone ever need, I have a pdf file of the full NA step-working guide.
I can easily get a copy of it to anyone, if they would like to take a look at what the steps really are in NA.
Ultimately it is a large amount of self reflection, processing your failures and traumas, and fixing your character defects. Its a ton of writing and very thorough, it takes a lot of people years to finish the steps in NA. I've never made it past step one, but I haven't tried a lot.
But its a great tool for psychoanalysis, and imo, it would be helpful for anyone to do, not just addicts.
As well, if anyone needs to go to a meeting, but has never been, I'm happy to help you find a virtual meeting and support you with that. Ive been to a ton of meetings, and although I'm not really working a program right now, it is just good to be around that community and the sobriety.
There are 24/7 virtual meetings all across the world. If you are struggling, there's no need to be alone with your troubles. There are people out there just like you that can help, dont be afraid to reach out. I'm in the "fake it until you make it" mindset.
Just as an FYI, should anyone ever need, I have a pdf file of the full NA step-working guide.
I can easily get a copy of it to anyone, if they would like to take a look at what the steps really are in NA.
Ultimately it is a large amount of self reflection, processing your failures and traumas, and fixing your character defects. Its a ton of writing and very thorough, it takes a lot of people years to finish the steps in NA. I've never made it past step one, but I haven't tried a lot.
But its a great tool for psychoanalysis, and imo, it would be helpful for anyone to do, not just addicts.
As well, if anyone needs to go to a meeting, but has never been, I'm happy to help you find a virtual meeting and support you with that. Ive been to a ton of meetings, and although I'm not really working a program right now, it is just good to be around that community and the sobriety.
There are 24/7 virtual meetings all across the world. If you are struggling, there's no need to be alone with your troubles. There are people out there just like you that can help, dont be afraid to reach out. I'm in the "fake it until you make it" mindset.
I like this also.
I write quotes I like on notecards and this is one I have:
"Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."
Will Rogers
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2011
- Messages
- 25,362
November 24, 2024
Gratefully recovering
Page 342
"We entertained the thought that staying clean was not paying off and the old thinking stirred up self-pity, resentment, and anger."
Basic Text, p. 102
There are days when some of us wallow in self-pity. It's easy to do. We may have expectations about how our lives should be in recovery, expectations that aren't always met. Maybe we've tried unsuccessfully to control someone, or we think our circumstances should be different. Perhaps we've compared ourselves with other recovering addicts and found ourselves lacking. The more we try to make our life conform to our expectations, the more uncomfortable we feel. Self-pity can arise from living in our expectations instead of in the world as it actually is.
When the world doesn't measure up to our expectations, it's often our expectations that need adjusting, not the world. We can start by comparing our lives today with the way they used to be, developing gratitude for our recovery. We can extend this exercise in gratitude by counting the good things in our lives, becoming thankful that the world does not conform to our expectations but exceeds them. And if we continue working the Twelve Steps, further cultivating gratitude and acceptance, what we can expect in the future is more growth, more happiness, and more peace of mind.
We've been given much in recovery; staying clean has paid off. Acceptance of our lives, just for today, frees us from our self-pity.
Just for Today: I will accept my life, gratefully, just as it is.
Gratefully recovering
Page 342
"We entertained the thought that staying clean was not paying off and the old thinking stirred up self-pity, resentment, and anger."
Basic Text, p. 102
There are days when some of us wallow in self-pity. It's easy to do. We may have expectations about how our lives should be in recovery, expectations that aren't always met. Maybe we've tried unsuccessfully to control someone, or we think our circumstances should be different. Perhaps we've compared ourselves with other recovering addicts and found ourselves lacking. The more we try to make our life conform to our expectations, the more uncomfortable we feel. Self-pity can arise from living in our expectations instead of in the world as it actually is.
When the world doesn't measure up to our expectations, it's often our expectations that need adjusting, not the world. We can start by comparing our lives today with the way they used to be, developing gratitude for our recovery. We can extend this exercise in gratitude by counting the good things in our lives, becoming thankful that the world does not conform to our expectations but exceeds them. And if we continue working the Twelve Steps, further cultivating gratitude and acceptance, what we can expect in the future is more growth, more happiness, and more peace of mind.
We've been given much in recovery; staying clean has paid off. Acceptance of our lives, just for today, frees us from our self-pity.
Just for Today: I will accept my life, gratefully, just as it is.