What Little Things Can We Do Each Day On Our Journey Of Recovery?
“Change is the essence of life…Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become…”
There are so many different paths we can take on our journey through recovery. What I mean is that there is no one right way because what works for me may not work for you. I am a recovering heroin addict. I attend methadone maintenance everyday and I am also involved in a number of self-help activities and groups. I do love Narcotics Anonymous but it is not the only recovery program I am involved in.
Change is the biggest advantage I think I have. I am willing to change today and try harder tomorrow. I try not to think about tomorrow, I just know that it is there and that if I want to improve something I can. I love to learn about Buddhism’s philosophy of life and how we should live and I apply those philosophies whenever I can. I pray to a Christian God and I attend church every Sunday. I have the spiritual tools I need, the curiosity to learn and the passion to change today. Tomorrow however, is a different day with new challenges and obstacles. I cannot worry about tomorrow or promise anything for tomorrow because I am only capable of staying in today right now.
If I need to work on a behavior or thought process I begin by become aware of it first whether someone tells me, I notice it or it’s something such as a consequence because of something I have done. So awareness is first, second is my thought process and how I can change that behavior. Then I implement the change by consciously acknowledging the behavior everyday and it takes about three weeks to implement a change. That means about three weeks of practice before the bad habit becomes a good one. For example isolating. Everyday I was coming home from methadone and going into my room, sometimes staying there all day. I was aware but did not want to do anything about it until someone close to me called me out on it. Next I had to think about how I was going to implement the change which I decided to go for a walk with my dogs everyday, call someone in recovery and attend more meetings. Each day when I got home from methadone I would remember I had to change, think about what I would do for that day to change and then do it. There are many different things we do in recovery to stay clean and live a better life.
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Journey Through Recovery 
I agree about being more conscious of my thoughts and actions and correcting them. Yesterday, at a meeting, I teased a friend in the rooms who usually teases right back (that’s been our pattern), but yesterday he said I crossed a line. I apologized, and he refused to accept it, so I walked away. It wasn’t until later when I shared with someone that I realized how differently I approached that situation. In the past, I would have insisted that he accept my apology and it would have turned into a big dramatic heart-to-heart (over-smooth it to smooth it over). Yesterday, I feel like I handled it appropriately and it’s now up to him. I can’t control his feelings. As they say, I can only keep my side of the street clean. Thanks for your blog! Love reading it. 🙂
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Thank you, glad to help…I like that, “I can only keep my side of the street clean,” there was a time where I would have flipped on the guy or argued or defended myself…it’s hard to walk away from a potential dramatic event…we do crave chaos!
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