illbewaiting

I came across this recently.. thought it could help some people.


1. Stay away from that first drink/drug
2. Attend AA/NA regularly
3. Use the 24-hour plan
4. Remember that your illness is incurable,progressive, and fatal
5. Do first things first
6. Don't become too tired
7. Eat a balanced diet at regular hours
8. Find a sponsor
9. Use the telephone
10. Be active- don't sit around
11. Use the serenity prayer
12. Change old routines and patterns
13. Don't become too hungry
14. Practice control of your anger
15. Avoid loneliness
16. Air your resentments
17. Be willing to help wherever needed
18. Be good to yourself. You deserve it.
19. Easy does it
20. Get out of the "if only" trap
21. Remember how it was, how it really was
22. Beware of emotional extremes(positive or negative emotions)
23. Help another in recovery
24. Try to turn your will over to your higher power
25. Avoid all mood changing drugs
26. Turn loose of old ideas
27. Avoid drinking/using occasions
28. Replace old drinking/using "buddies" with new AA/NA buddie
29. Read the Big Book/Blue Book
30. Try not to be dependent
31. Be graceful
32. Get off the "pity pot"
33. Seek knowledgeable help
34. Face that you are powerless over alcohol/drugs
35. Try the twelve steps of recovery
36. Let Go and Let God
37. Keep an open mind
38. Find the courage to change through the example of others who have done so
39. Don't try to test your will power
40. Try honesty
41. Live today, not yesterday, not tomorrow
42. Remember: alcohol/drugs are cunning,baffling, and powerful
43. Be humble
44. Rejoice in the manageability of your life
45. Share your experience, strength, and hope
46. Cherish your recovery
47. Dump your garbage regularly
48. Get plenty of restful sleep
49. Stay sober for yourself, not anybody else
50. Progress is made one day at a time
51. Develop an attitude of gratitude
52. Accept the fact that you don't take that first drink
53. Think about those you have harmed
54. Make amends where possible
55. Take a daily inventory of yourself
56. Avoid self-righteousness
57. Put aside jealousy
58. Meditate
59. Share your happiness
60. Respect other's anonymity
61. Be responsible
62. Do not judge: yourself or others
63. Avoid nostalgic sadness
64. Don't place conditions on your recovery
65. Don't dwell on the "Good ol' times", they weren't that good
66. Seek God's will for you
67. Listen
68. Keep It Simple.
69. Admit when you are wrong
70. Beware of complacency
71. Have faith
72. Avoid gossip
73. Laugh
74. When you feel shaky, call another person in recovery
75. Replace guilt and remorse with forgiveness
76. Share your pain, don't keep it in
77. Recognize and correct your shortcomings
78. Carry the message of AA/NA
79. Use your sponsor
80. Practice "I am responsible for my recovery"
81. Take suggestions
82. Beware of phoniness in yourself
83. Think positive
84. Put your own welfare first
85. Believe in a power greater than yourself
86. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself
87. Share your inventory with someone you trust
88. Seek peace of mind- chaos is dangerous
89. Don't "put down" anyone, including yourself
90. Accept life as it comes
91. Don't take another person's inventory
92. Develop self-restraint
93. Don't fear change, embrace it
94. Remember your last drug/drunk
95. Think the drink through, play the tape through
96. Beware of self-deception
97. Look upon problems as challenges, lessons, and gifts
98. Take life a day, an hour, even a minute at a time
99. Beware of lying
100. Do the right thing, even when nobody's looking
101. Remember that your worst day sober is always better than your best day drinking/using.


This may not be helpful to everyone. You may not take to the text related to God/Higher Powers, but take from this what you will.. Remember some of these may help you in the long run. Even if this helps one person out there in recovery or considering recovery, it was worth the time I took to type it

langkah

Not a bad list at all. Thanks for taking your time to type this out.

IndaMiricale

Yes , Yes , and Yes. Thanks for the post.

illbewaiting

No problem, friends! This is actually a list given to my fiance by his counselor. I felt obligated to pass on the wisdom because though I am no longer an active addict, this has helped me a lot.

Sapling

Did you use the program of NA?

LoftyIdeals

Great list; its a keeper. Thanks for sharing.

illbewaiting

I personally never used NA or any other meetings, and my fiance is opposed to them because they are so strongly linked to spiritual beliefs, which he is not.
My recovery was based upon pure will power and the want/need to do better things with my life.
I did what(in my experience) I've seen very few people do..
I woke up one day, I had my "last dance with my demon".. and decided it was time to stop.
It wasn't the life I wanted to lead and I saw myself getting worse with each day.
I'm not going to say I never had a relapse, because I did, but it was short lived.
I relapsed once and never, ever turned back. I was convinced I was going to die it I kept going down that path, and that's probably what ultimately got me out.
Now I've got a life I wouldn't trade for anything. I take the good with the bad, and I thank whatever force it was that helped me get clean every day.
I am so very grateful for my beautiful son and the opportunities that I've been given and it's hard for me to wrap my head around what I my life could have become had I allowed it to get that far.
Anyone can do it. It comes down to how bad you want it and how hard you are willing to work for it. These "101 tools" really can help though. There's a lot of valuable information there, and I wish I had things like this and SR to aid me in my recovery, BUT I chose to hide my addiction AND my recovery from everyone because I was ashamed, and so I did it on my own without a support system in place.
Recovery is the greatest gift you can give to yourself and the people who love you.

Sapling

Yeah...I couldn't do that....I got tired of trying...The reason I asked is most of that list is AA/NA.....How long have you been clean? if you don't mind me asking?

illbewaiting

Well, the list wasn't given to me. As I stated before, it was given to my fiance by his counselor, and I figured I could just pass it along through here for those who haven't seen it yet.

I tell people I'm about 6 years clean, but in all actuality it's probably closer to 7 years.. I just couldn't tell you when my exact date of sobriety was. I know it wasn't too long after August of '05 when I had finally had enough of that life. I'm a lucky duck to have turned my life around as "easily" as I did. I know there are very few people out there who are/were able to do what I did and I take a lot of pride in that. I like to think that if it were a tougher battle I still would have come out on top, but who knows.

How long have you been in recovery if you dont mind me asking?

eJoshua

Thanks for sharing, I like this list.

Congrats on your sober time and impending marriage.

Best wishes,

Sapling

I've been sober for 9 months working the program of AA....That was after 35 years of hardcore drinking...The last couple almost cost me my life...But I couldn't do it alone...I admire you for doing it...Congrats on your time...Alcohol had it's claws in me so bad I just wanted to die....No sh!t....But I made it....So far.

Tres

I really like the list. Thanks for sharing it.