Post by caressa on Aug 1, 2010 14:42:31 GMT -5
Each one of us can make a difference by passing on what we know.
You have something worthwhile to share, regardless of where you are in your life. You’ve built a history and you’ve learned lessons along the way.
- Jane Powell
No matter what the substance, no matter where we are on our journey, we can share what happened to us, what it was like, and what it is like now.
It can be about still using and not being able to quit. It can be about having recovery and relapsing. It can be about finding recovery and sharing the change in your life and the joys you found in recovery.
This is what these boards are for. To share our experience, strength and hope with each other. When I do this, it also helps me. When I share, it puts some order into my own life and thinking.
It has been a long time since I drank and abused drugs. What I need to watch out for is my emotional sobriety. Sobriety according to my spiritual advisor means 'soundness of mind' and that is why I named one of my sites by that name.
Another is called "The Five As!" It is the five As of change that I needed for my own recovery. I became aware that I had a problem. I admitted to others that I had a problem, no matter what the addiction is or was. I accept the fact that I was an addict and that I could not do it on my own power and that I needed help.
The other two are interchangeable for me. I take action to change my attitude, or I change my attitude so I can take action. For me it was picking up the phone and calling the social worker at the YWCA. She got me into a treatment center. The treatment center introduced me to AA and NA. AA was what I needed because of my denial. NA was outside help because although my prescription pills were like dried up alcohol and I could relate to the people in AA, I knew deep down I was an addict. Some is good, more is better.
Right from the beginning of my recovery, I found Al-Anon. It helped me to discover where my old tapes were introduced and how I could identify them and deal with them. I had one reason to go to AA and/or NA. I had 3-33 reasons to go to Al-Anon. I am the daughter of an alcoholic father and a mother who used food to deal with her own emotions and died at the age of 40. I was married to an alcoholic who was very abusive and to another who I 'think' qualified for Sex Anonymous. He too was abusive. My son became an alcoholic/addict and got into things that I never tried.
As I was told, we had to go through what we went through to get to where we are today. We have a story to tell which will help others find their way.
My sponor said, "You do not have the power to keep one sober and you don't have the power to keep them from using." What you do is have a story to tell and to share with others, a journey of how you got there and how recovery is helping you in today.
You can learn two things. How to work your program and how NOT to work your program. It is about finding what is right for you and the path you need to take for your own recovery. I was one of the really sick ones. AA gave me hope for a better tomorrow. I tried for eight years my way and my way didn't work. I walked into a room and found others who were not drinking. I walked into NA and found people who were not using.
For me, no matter what fellowship I belong to or don't belong to, it is about quitting everything. I have heard of people who quit smoking. My doctor put me on an inhaler because he said, "If you stopped, you would die. It took me until I was 7 years sober to find a willingness to give them up. I had to pray for the willingness to be willing.
Thanks for letting me share.
You have something worthwhile to share, regardless of where you are in your life. You’ve built a history and you’ve learned lessons along the way.
- Jane Powell
No matter what the substance, no matter where we are on our journey, we can share what happened to us, what it was like, and what it is like now.
It can be about still using and not being able to quit. It can be about having recovery and relapsing. It can be about finding recovery and sharing the change in your life and the joys you found in recovery.
This is what these boards are for. To share our experience, strength and hope with each other. When I do this, it also helps me. When I share, it puts some order into my own life and thinking.
It has been a long time since I drank and abused drugs. What I need to watch out for is my emotional sobriety. Sobriety according to my spiritual advisor means 'soundness of mind' and that is why I named one of my sites by that name.
Another is called "The Five As!" It is the five As of change that I needed for my own recovery. I became aware that I had a problem. I admitted to others that I had a problem, no matter what the addiction is or was. I accept the fact that I was an addict and that I could not do it on my own power and that I needed help.
The other two are interchangeable for me. I take action to change my attitude, or I change my attitude so I can take action. For me it was picking up the phone and calling the social worker at the YWCA. She got me into a treatment center. The treatment center introduced me to AA and NA. AA was what I needed because of my denial. NA was outside help because although my prescription pills were like dried up alcohol and I could relate to the people in AA, I knew deep down I was an addict. Some is good, more is better.
Right from the beginning of my recovery, I found Al-Anon. It helped me to discover where my old tapes were introduced and how I could identify them and deal with them. I had one reason to go to AA and/or NA. I had 3-33 reasons to go to Al-Anon. I am the daughter of an alcoholic father and a mother who used food to deal with her own emotions and died at the age of 40. I was married to an alcoholic who was very abusive and to another who I 'think' qualified for Sex Anonymous. He too was abusive. My son became an alcoholic/addict and got into things that I never tried.
As I was told, we had to go through what we went through to get to where we are today. We have a story to tell which will help others find their way.
My sponor said, "You do not have the power to keep one sober and you don't have the power to keep them from using." What you do is have a story to tell and to share with others, a journey of how you got there and how recovery is helping you in today.
You can learn two things. How to work your program and how NOT to work your program. It is about finding what is right for you and the path you need to take for your own recovery. I was one of the really sick ones. AA gave me hope for a better tomorrow. I tried for eight years my way and my way didn't work. I walked into a room and found others who were not drinking. I walked into NA and found people who were not using.
For me, no matter what fellowship I belong to or don't belong to, it is about quitting everything. I have heard of people who quit smoking. My doctor put me on an inhaler because he said, "If you stopped, you would die. It took me until I was 7 years sober to find a willingness to give them up. I had to pray for the willingness to be willing.
Thanks for letting me share.