When we feel bad physically we go to the doctor for a check up. When our recovery is a little lax is good to do a check up from the neck up. Going back to the basics is what has worked for me in jump starting a relaxed recovery. Sometimes I feel blue. Sometimes I feel disconnected from my program and sometimes I feel that I've spiritually lost my connection. I've learned there are tools I have that assist me in getting back on course. Getting back to the basics is what keeps me in sobriety, one day at a time. If I feel blue I turn to my gratitude list and remember the ten most important things for me. When I feel disconnected from my program I get on the phone and make as many calls as I can in order to speak to three people. It has been suggested in the "Tools Of Recovery" text to make at least 3 calls a day. I highly recommend this. The good conversations can really get you out of your head and stop those disconnected feelings. And when I'm feeling a little out of sorts spiritually, I spark up a good conversation with my higher power. One of the best things I know is He's always there to listen. Afterwards I feel His guidance, love and light. A very fulfilling experience and one that makes me smile. Now I know you might say, "That's great, it works for you." Well, these basics tools do work for me. That's why I suggest them to all my sponsee's when they are feeling out of sorts with their program. Who knows it could work for you. Give it a try and I meet you in sobriety. TyF. |
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After 48 days of continuous abstinence from my bottom lines I made a phone call to a previous acting out partner, it was a basic “normal” phone call, “Hey how are you, how have things been in the last 48 days” but I have to remember I am not exactly normal, I am an addict and by that slip of a phone call I was setting myself up for a full blown relapse.
Of course nothing has changed, and see well I am an addict and my sanity has not be quite restored yet so I think I can do the same things and get different results. The difference this time is the way I used my basics to fight this slip. I was making phone calls like a mad woman. I am doing service to the program, am doing my reading, I am praying (this area does need work for me) I did slow down on my meetings and I do see how that impacted my mood, resilience. BUT, 48 is just a number the only number I need to worry about is 24…… Twenty four hours of just right now. Just do the next right thing for right now. My sponsor hit me with some tough love this time and said, “Well you have got this phone call for your pity pot session and then get the hell off of it and move forward.” That was probably one of the best things he could have told me because for once I actually listened and I am accepting that I am not at my very first day in this rooms just because I am back on my first day of absence off of these set of bottom lines I have right now. He reminded me how much this addict has grown and back to basics for that I am grateful!
I keep a very simplistic way of doing things, a checklist of sorts. I call my sponsor, I read my books, and I talk with my wife.
Although, I had a slip I feel I am back on the path right from where I left off.
The K.I.S.S. method works for me Keep It Simple Stupid.
Truth is, skipping and glossing over the basics was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made. I believe it was a big contributor to my relapses. Today I try to embrace the basics, everyday, as consistently as a person coming out of the insanity and confusion of active addiction can. It's not perfect adherence, but it is something that I now put first in my recovery each day. Here are some of the basics for me: 1) I call my sponsor every morning at the same time each day; 2) I try to read my recovery literature every day; 3) I try to journal every day; and 4) I read my gratitude list every night before I go to bed. I still need to make more calls. The difference with this basic consistency (I am probably at about 75% consistency right now) is making a very important change in the strength of my recovery. I feel a foundation beginning to build. It's this basic training, this preparation for each day, this consistent effort that I believe is really beginning to pay off. I am at 37 days for the first time in my life.