Tag Archives: Addiction treatment

Daily Reading from Recovery Days November 9th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – review expectations


Witnessing

After many years of ruinously destructive addiction,
a person enters rehab and leaves clean and sober.
What happened? Change happened. What sort of
change? Change of attitudes, beliefs and
behaviours. How did change happen? Through
honesty, openness and willingness. But how was it
successful when so many fail? Through outside
help. What help? Help from a Power greater than
ourselves. Why? Because the person asked. This is
the story of thousands who follow the Twelve Steps.
Through our recovery, we bear witness to the power
of the programme and to our Higher Power. Am I
aware of my responsibility as a recovering person, to
bear witness through my behaviour and attitude to
life?

To bear witness is to be a living proof of a
significant happening. Just saying it is true is not
enough. Actions speak louder than words.
If I alone bear witness about myself, my
testimony is not deemed true. But…the very
works I am doing, bear witness about me.
The Bible, St John.
At first, our loved ones are understandably sceptical.
Today I will bear witness to my recovery.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 20th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – open your mind


Unselfishness


Truly unselfish people are often overlooked, but
they expect no praise. Take that wonderful example
– Jane Eyre the eponymous heroine of Charlotte
Bronte’s great novel. Self-effacing but quietly
determined, she finds fulfilment in the end: I am no
bird; and no net ensnares me. I am a free human
being with an independent will. She proves the
saying that, if you are not afraid to show yourself as
you really are, then others will respond positively.
Her unselfish devotion to the damaged though
sincere Mr Rochester ends happily: Reader, I
married him! Do I believe that in giving, I will
receive?

We live in a world that is designed to provide us with
what we want, provided we pay for it. We often rush
to gratify our desires without a thought for the true
cost – the work of others, the damage to the
environment, the effect on our health. Delaying
gratification is difficult, partly because it involves
using imagination to visualise a future benefit. But
delaying gratification also means we are not giving
our selfish desires top priority and that is progress indeed. For that insight I am grateful,

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 17th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Word power


Words can lead us into new ways of thinking.
Advertising copywriters say that, among the most
powerful words in the English language are: You,
Imagine, Now, Because, and Believe.

These are said
the be the words that influence us the most – we can
view them as follows:

  • You: focus for empathy
  • Imagine: the start of hope
  • Now: the call to action
  • Because: the gateway to understanding
  • Believe: achieve the impossible.

Perhaps what works for copywriters works for those
recovering from addiction. Try combining them in a
sentence such as: You are stronger than you
imagine and you can decide now to change your
life, because if you believe in yourself, you can do
anything. Feel the power of that! Sometimes,
looking at ourselves from a different perspective
gives us new insights. Am I keeping an open mind?
Every day in recovery is an opportunity to explore
new ideas of spirituality and creativity. I give thanks
for the power of words, correctly used.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 22nd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


Step Nine


The short version of Step Nine says: I have said sorry
to the people I have harmed and tried to repair
damage. That statement indicates our willingness
to take responsibility for our actions. Any feeling of
discomfort that we may have comes from pride and
it will pass. This is a great learning opportunity for
us. Am I ready to work Steps Eight and Nine to the
best of my ability?


It is when your spirit goes wandering
upon the wind That you, alone and
unguarded, commit a wrong unto others
and therefore unto yourself.
And for that wrong committed must you
knock and wait a while unheeded at the
gate of the blessed. Kahlil Gibran.
The shining light that comes from these Steps is
forgiveness. Those we have harmed will often
respond forgivingly. I must accept that not all may
be able to forgive but, if I have done my best to
make amends, with the help of my Higher Power,
then I can eventually forgive myself. Today I ask for
courage, and continue to make amends

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 2nd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – feel your body from top to toes


Adult choices

Personal responsibility is about making the right
choices for the right reasons. It is something that
many people learn naturally through their childhood
and teenage years but which some of us failed to do,
because our addiction got in the way. Children are
naturally driven to seek the most attractive,
pleasurable thing and they learn by trial and error
that, for the sake of their long-term good, a less
attractive option is a better choice. Addicted people
begin sobriety like children in this respect. Instant
gratification is the goal of both. But grown-ups know
better. Have I the maturity to choose wisely between
what I want and what I really need?

Be careful what you wish for. If I become rich, the
attitudes of many towards me will change – some will
be jealous, some contemptuous, some will plot to
steal from me. If I want power or fame, the same sort
of thing will happen. So much unhappiness in the
world is caused by people wanting things they don’t
really need, while ignoring the things they do need,
such as love and peace of mind. Today I

Daily Reading from Recovery Days August 23rd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly

The adventure of recovery


In classic adventure stories the hero goes on a
journey where they meet great dangers, risk death at
least once and finally return home richer and wiser
than they were before. Treasure Island or Robinson
Crusoe are good and gripping examples. We are the
heroes of our own life’s adventure story. For those in
recovery, each story has the elements of adventure –
we undergo trials but get home wiser and richer, in
spirit, if not at the bank. It has been a voyage of
discovery. But there is a sequel because our new life
in sobriety is another great adventure. Am I making
the most of my second great adventure story, my
voyage of recovery?


Adventure is not a word that features in the indexes
of many books of daily reflection. That’s a pity. The
old meaning of the word is said to be a ‘wonder’
then later ‘a remarkable occurrence’. Recovery is
that too. I grasp my recovery with both hands
because it is a precious thing. Put on your recovery
boots and you’ll feel like Winnie the Pooh:
As soon as he saw the big boots, he knew that an
adventure was going to happen.
A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days August 22nd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably

Choices


We make choices every day, some small, some big.
Life can be seen as just a series of choices. It is thus
important that we learn how to choose correctly.
Addicted people often choose only to meet their
immediate wants – perhaps a pill or a drink. In that
way, they are seeking instant relief, as children want
their immediate needs to be met. But children learn
gradually to make responsible choices – through the
example of others, and by trial and error.
Unfortunately, addiction means we don’t learn this
way and the results are obvious. Recovery is about
making grown-up choices. Am I learning to make
the right choices?


People only make changes when they understand
the need. If for example, I want to change my
outbursts of anger, I must first understand why they
happen, what makes me behave like that. Practising
self-awareness and honesty leads me to discover the
things in me that I need to change. Today I will
reflect on the process of making choices and ask
God for wisdom to make the right ones.

Daily Reading from recovery Days August 21st by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment

True love

Awareness begins with viewing your thoughts and
emotions in as detached a way as possible and
learning from them. It is a technique that may seem
awkward at first but then becomes a habit.
Perseverance produces insights that lead to change.
The change that helps people most is ceasing to see
oneself and one’s needs as the main focus of
attention. See oneself as part of creation, so that
everything is no longer about ‘me’, can be called
‘disidentification.’ Am I ready to learn awareness?


Modern love stories are often about manipulation,
intrigue and possessiveness. People pursue other
people in states of anxiety, desperation and burning
desire. It makes for great reading and great cinema,
but real love is something else. Loving people
because you need them in order to be happy is not
what love should be – it becomes about control
instead. I must recognise only real love.
Love does not dishonour others, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. St Paul.
I ask God today that I will seek only true love.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days August 20th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly

Ego

It’s said that the three hardest things for most people
to do are: giving love in return for hate, including
the excluded, and admitting to being wrong. What
makes it so difficult for us? It’s our old problem –
our ego. We are so used to wanting success, fearing
the disdain of others and of not meeting their
expectations, that we find it acutely painful when
our pride is threatened. When we find inner peace, it
becomes unimportant what others think or say. Am
I too concerned about what people think of me?


The good in the world comes from love, the bad is
basically fear. The more that I fill my heart with
love, the less room there will be for fear. My fears
come from my lack of insight and lack of trust.
Situations that frighten me are manageable when I
understand them properly. There may be situations
that I cannot understand, but if I really believe in a
Power greater than myself, then I should trust and
not be afraid. Today I reflect on this.

Daily Readings from Recovery Days August 19th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – breathe slowly


Self-respect


Self-respect is important because it changes not just
the way you see yourself but also the way others see
you. A young American in Detroit made a meagre
living making clay pots and selling them in the local
market. He decided one day that change was
needed, so he wrote a large placard explaining that
the pots were made with very special clay under
supervision of a master craftsman, in a limited
edition of just two hundred. He also upped the price
tenfold. Within a day he had sold them all. He is
now a leading artist and advocate for social change
in the area. His story illustrates a truth – that if you
increase your valuation of something, even of
yourself, then others will respond positively and
agree with your valuation. Do I place a high enough
value on myself?

I must not over-value myself, that would be too
prideful but neither should I undervalue myself,
because that is effectively undervaluing my Higher
Power who is my guide and strength. I just need to
have a realistic view of myself and my strengths and
weaknesses. Today I ask God for the wisdom to see
myself as I really am.