Living Life on Life's Terms

[windysan]

I've heard this a gazillion times and I have yet to understand what it means.

Please splain it to me if'n ya feel like it.

Carrion.

[paulmh]

To me it means not fighting the moment.

[Blake]

Accepting reality as it is and dealing with it as best you can, not running and hiding behind dope.

[paulmh]

Windy, it surely can't be a coincidence that Carrion is a single by British Sea Power, can it?

lol

Something you want to tell us?

[doorknob]

Roll wit da punches!

[windysan]

ok, i thought it meant something deeper or something. so it means, like, don't sweat it? don't worry bout it? fuggetaboudit?

[paulmh]

I know, when you say it out loud like that it just seems so obvious.

[Blake]

Pretty much windy, kinda like the shortened version of the serenity prayer: **** it!

[windysan]

i wish people would just say "**** it" instead of putting all those extra words in there to confuse me.

[Blake]

You have to be careful with the **** it thing though....it can get out of hand and then you can start doing some irresponsible ****, b/c ya know...**** it!

[Leo_the_Cat]

To me "Living life on life's terms" means living the best one can even though there are many disagreeable events and realities that one wishes were different. That does sound similar to the Serenity Prayer.

[windysan]

i know what you mean, blake.

for the first year i said **** to everything.

that was irresponsible.

[carlton]

not fighting the moment.

Thats a good one. Been savouring it these past few days.

I've shared more than once in meetings that 'fookit*' is the active addict's version of the serenity prayer. It works in recovery too; its just not a very precise tool. That said, sometimes only a chainsaw will do.

*Thats how we say it round these parts.

[michski]

Originally Posted by windysan

I've heard this a gazillion times and I have yet to understand what it means.

Please splain it to me if'n ya feel like it.

Carrion.

Living life on Life's Terms!

I just found this thread, thought I would give it a bump because it's a good thing for every addict and codependent to think about and relax enough to understand.

For me learning to accept life on life's terms meant I could no longer get mad, get a bottle or a bag and disappear from the scene. It meant learning that the world did not revolve around me. It also meant that I had to learn about my senses of expectations and disappointments and accept the results.
In my sobriety I had to accept my feelings were not paramount in the world I lived in. Accepting life on life's terms helped me keep those huge rollercoaster of feelings of early recovery in check, trying to keep cool and "belong" to the world around me.

Once I accepted the way the flop flipped I began to feel like I belonged to the living again. Having problems, dealing with them or letting them slide off my back and not live rent free in my head anymore.

Living MY life on life's terms also meant that I could no longer disrespect those whom I love and loved me by being selfish, inconsiderate and dishonest. They were the life I was living on life's terms and I began to become so much more flexible emotionally.

Living my life on life's terms made me a whole lot more mellow and even more mature emotionally. No more crying, no more sense of victimization. I became responsible for my own sense of happiness because accepting life on life's terms means no one's gonna do it for you.

It also taught me that what other people think of me is NONE of my business.

[Arura]

Walk the Walk,
Dont just talk the talk...!

Never Give in on Yourself, and Fight for what You want..!
Not what Has been.!

Belive in Yourself ...!

[GlassPrisoner]

Loosely translated:

**** happens, deal with it. Just don't drink or use.

[Zencat]

It is simple, just like signing a contract: you want understand all the terms before you agree to it, if you are intelligent that is. And so is life: just understand all the terms and live accordingly. Just don’t ask “me” what the terms are.

[Abbadun]

I see so many people that go out over issues that will not matter in 10 years, 1 year, 1 month or even one week.

I pay attention to things that matter, my sobriety, paying the rent, saving some money and having some fun.

AB

Originally Posted by zencat

It is simple, just like signing a contract: you want understand all the terms before you agree to it, if you are intelligent that is. And so is life: just understand all the terms and live accordingly. Just don’t ask “me” what the terms are.

[Leo_the_Cat]

Originally Posted by Abbadun

I see so many people that go out over issues that will not matter in 10 years, 1 year, 1 month or even one week.

I definitely see this too. I try to keep things that come up in perspective and always try to remember that drinking and drugging makes whatever problems I have worse and invariably adds new ones.

[PurpleReign]

I always saw it as,
Control the controllables.

Control what you can control (you can control using), don't worry about what you can't (meaning don't use over things you can't control).

Works for this guy!

PR