Topic of the Week - Guarding Our Recovery

[caressa]

Many times we are challenged to face situations that can jeoprodize our recovery. We can slip back into old ways thinking. Into the old feelings of fear, anger, resentment, insecrities, etc. which were a big part of our using in the first place. This is especially true during the holiday season.

www.naworks.org/jft/04-04.html

We need to guard against relpase. There are thngs we need to watch out for and precautions we can take.

- examine your motives and intent for going

- can I take my Higher Power with me

- take someone else with me for support

- make sure I safeguard my drink by not putting it down

- just because I go somewhere, doesn't mean I have to stay.

- whether it is family or not, it is alright to leave if necessary

- near beer and other prodcuts have alcoholic content.

- food cooked with alcohol is cooked off but the taste is there

- make sure my place is safe, don't invite in strangers

- go to lots of meetings, we can do what I can't do alone.

- at holiday time, get back to basics - meetings, sponsor, literature, steps, service, etc.

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[justjo]

Guarding my recovery, means to have a continual connection with my Higher Power.

SLIP - Sobriety Loses It's Priority.

There is no such thing as 'slip' to my way of thinking, it is generally premediated, and we often sliip mentally, emotionally and spiritually, before we physically pick up.

To guard against relapse I need to remember the slogan H.A.L.T. AND remember that Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired, applies to all aspects of my disease.

As they say, you can't lose what you don't have. That doesn't mean clean and sober time, that means for me, the work I did in the program to get me to where I am in today. If I haven't got a sponsor, if I don't go to meetings, if I don't continue to work the steps, if I don't get involved in service (not only in the rooms, but in the community as well), I set myself up for relapse. My disease is powerful, it doesn't go away, and if I find myself giving it an inch, the next thing I know it has taken a mile.

It is important to read the literature, do meditation and stay in contact with recovery people. Over the holiday it is extremely important to safeguard myself. How did I use to handle emotions? How did I deal with my feelings? What did I do when dealing with family? How did I interact with fellow workers and what happened at those Christmas parties. A lot of remember whens, and not all of them good. Play the tape to the end, what happened, and what price did you pay for your good time?

Have a safe and sober holiday.

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[BW]

in addition to previos post on guarding agaist relapse...

**have numbers preprogramed into your cell phone of sponsor and other members you can relay upon to talk you down when you are head running

**Always have a "Plan B" ..take your own car if possible so you can leave if you need to and have a meeting scedule in your car

** Pay attention to what you are feeling..Your instincts are usually right..If it feels uncomfortable or Not right..then it usually isn't and it's time to bow out...

** Be of service--Offer to be the designated driver...Service commitments are always helpful because we are outside of ourselves...But watch that EGO doesn't get out of hand or get too BIG that you can't fit out the door...LOL

[justjo]

Today, as I have over the years, been made very aware of the fact that this is a one day at a time program. When I bring in the past and project into the future, I miss out and jeoprodize my today.

There have been several things I have learned over the years, that have helped my maintain my sobriety. The biggest is that it is just this 24 hours. The only difference between me and the newcomer, is the fact that I have more experience using the tools of recovery and I have practiced a little longer, and still don't always get it right.

The biggest thing in my own recovery, was building a personal relationship with my Higher Power. God had been an old tape. He was who people told me He was (Elders in our church, minister, mother, aunt, etc.) and although I had read my Bible and gone to church three times on Sunday and to Prayer Meeting on Wednesday, taught Sunday School and sang in the choir, it didn't stop me from being an alcoholic. I asked Jesus into my life at 10 years old, was baptized at 14, and dedicated my life to God at 18 and it didn't stop me from becoming an addict. I had to find that something different that would keep me sober. I could quit, but I couldn't stop, I always used again, until I went to AA.

Getting to know myself was so important and I found all aspects of myself by going to Al-Anon. Meetings were so important around any holiday, but I need to guard my sobriety all year round.

[caressa]

It was important to have strong support group. They were my backbone. I had to let my old friend go who were still using and set boundaries with them.

I had to make new friends, make boundaries with them, because I had to learn to trust. I had to allow myself to become vulnerable, and allow people back into my life.

I was also told that I needed to be my own best friend. I found that I had to give myself permission to do things. For exaample: I used my bed for years to hide from the word. Pope a few pills and hope to go tsleep and shut everything and everyone out.

When I got sober, I had to check my motive and intent for going to bed, so I had to set boundaries with myself. I would ask myself questions like:

Are you really sleepy?

Do you need the rest?

Are you really hungry?

Are you eating a balanced diet and making healthy choices?

[justjo]

Many people think of our disease as heredity and this may very well be true. I have heard people say they had no alcoholics in their family, but who knows whether they had a closet drinker somewhere in the past.

I am more inclined to think we are products of our environment. I know that I was raised in a home with good Christian principles and ended up in a shack by two sets of railroad tracks. The train tracks crossed, and I think our place was on the wrong side of the track on both CNR and CPR before I came to Hamilton.

We lived beside three brothers who invented swear words because those generally known by most folks were not enough for them. When I was growing up, I got hit for saying darn because it meant d*mn and the same for heck because it meant h*ll. The more I drank the worse the company I kept, and in the end, I was isolated and I was left with the worst of all, me!

Toxic People:

eor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=General&action=display&thread=4162

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[majestyjo]

Sorry link in original post can not be found in today.

It is so important to guard my recovery. My thought was someone can't take away what I don't have. As I share with someone today, when we give up our power, we are empowering those who would take it from us. We need to stand up for what we believe in. They say, "How important is it?" When it comes to my recovery, it is very important. Without it, I have nothing.