Post by Caressa2 on May 20, 2004 8:05:05 GMT -5
"We find ourselves doing and enjoyig things that we never thought we would be doing."
Basic Test, p. 98
Active addiction kept us isolated for many reasons. In the beginning, we avoided family and friends so they wouldn't find out we were using. Some of us avoided all nonaddicts, fearing moral backlash and legal repercussions. We belittled people who had "normal" lives with families and hobbies; we called them "uncool," believing we could never enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Eventually, we even avoided other addicts because we didn't want to share our drugs. Our lives narrowed, and our concerns were confined to the daily maintenance of our disease.
Today, our lives are much fuller. We enjoy activities with other recovering addicts. We have time for our families. And we've discovered many othe pursuits that give us pleasure. What a change from the past! We can live life just as fully as the "normal" people we once scorned. Enjoyment has returned to ur lives, a gift of recovery.
Just for today: I can find pleasure in the simple routines of daily living.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We can find ourselves slipping back into this old behavior, and when we do we are setting ourselves up for relapse as it is part of our disease. I often call it dis-ease, because even in today I can allow myself to be uncomfortable where I am at, not wanting to face society and hiding from life. I call it "Cutting myself off from the "Sunshine of the Spirit." When I do that, then I lose the connection, it allows my disease to take over, and I find myself in a depression with the poor mes and other old attitudes, like "the word owes me a favor, I am so hard done by, if only people would..." Next thing we know, someone just might make us an offer we can't refuse because we have isolated ourselves from our defense and the old thinking comes back, "Well one won't hurt," "They won't know," "Well it isn't my drug of choice, so I am not realing using!"
I must never forget that isolation is the nature of my dis-ease.
Basic Test, p. 98
Active addiction kept us isolated for many reasons. In the beginning, we avoided family and friends so they wouldn't find out we were using. Some of us avoided all nonaddicts, fearing moral backlash and legal repercussions. We belittled people who had "normal" lives with families and hobbies; we called them "uncool," believing we could never enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Eventually, we even avoided other addicts because we didn't want to share our drugs. Our lives narrowed, and our concerns were confined to the daily maintenance of our disease.
Today, our lives are much fuller. We enjoy activities with other recovering addicts. We have time for our families. And we've discovered many othe pursuits that give us pleasure. What a change from the past! We can live life just as fully as the "normal" people we once scorned. Enjoyment has returned to ur lives, a gift of recovery.
Just for today: I can find pleasure in the simple routines of daily living.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We can find ourselves slipping back into this old behavior, and when we do we are setting ourselves up for relapse as it is part of our disease. I often call it dis-ease, because even in today I can allow myself to be uncomfortable where I am at, not wanting to face society and hiding from life. I call it "Cutting myself off from the "Sunshine of the Spirit." When I do that, then I lose the connection, it allows my disease to take over, and I find myself in a depression with the poor mes and other old attitudes, like "the word owes me a favor, I am so hard done by, if only people would..." Next thing we know, someone just might make us an offer we can't refuse because we have isolated ourselves from our defense and the old thinking comes back, "Well one won't hurt," "They won't know," "Well it isn't my drug of choice, so I am not realing using!"
I must never forget that isolation is the nature of my dis-ease.
. I will be back looking for Lin and others.