When one writes a blog about recovery it might seem as if the subject matter becomes somewhat repetitious after a while. After all, this blog is getting close to having three thousand entries some time around the end of February - and surely I've covered the same subject a number of times.
But when one stands back and takes a look at it, recovery is a lifestyle that must become repetitious if it's to succeed in the long term. And even though we talk in 12-step meetings about "one day at a time," if we repeat these sober days one after the other we soon will have a few years - then even decades.
The reality of recovery is that it must be repetitious. There can be no breaks. No days off to imbibe our favorite beverage or smoke a joint.. That is, unless we want to start over.
There are times when I have to dig deep to find a topic that is different from the one I wrote about yesterday. But I've found that it's okay to write about the same thing because staying sober is a daily project for those of us who want to succeed at it. And we must repeat the things that have kept us sober thus far.
Does that mean we must attend a 12-step meeting each day? Not necessarily. But it does mean that we must stay in touch with who we are. By that, I mean we must stay in touch with our emotions as much as possible. We can't walk around full of anger, or sadness, or depression without eventually addressing it.
And the AA literature has many examples of how we successfully navigate the tough times that everyone experiences at some point or the other. Even if you've read the Big Book 20 times you can always learn something new.
So, we keep repeating what has worked. And as we do that we find fulfilling lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment