Matt,
Interesting thought. I agree with Anna that you don't sound like you're giving yourself enough credit. Not only have you built up some recovery time (as Anna points out) but you also have consistently empathetic, thoughtful, and significant responses. They don't seem like you've just flung them out willy-nilly.
I support you trying to be more thoughtful in your own responses to your life. Keeping a journal helps me. You probably do that already. You know what I really like also? I love having a pen pal.
I'm the kind of person who needs a lot of routine so maybe that would help too if you don't already have that. I try to do laundry and grocery shop on Mondays, work out on Tuesdays and Thursday, see my therapist on Tuesday, walk one day on the weekend, paint on Wednesdays and some of Saturday. I go to AA on Wednesday and Saturday. I go to my outpatient group on Tuesday. I know that sounds utterly boring but keeping to that routine comforts me and helps my brain stay free for other stuff. I find myself taking up inner conversations during my walk on the weekend that I had put down during the week. I can rely on them making themselves available to me again because I always take that same walk.
Also, I carry a notebook everwhere for stray thoughts.
I read a lot of self-help stuff too. Online or in magazines or books. I underline and highlight and mark it all up. Especially if I have a particular issue I'm struggling with. When I got sober, I went and bought about 5 books about recovery. When I was diagnosed bipolar, same thing. Pregnancy - same. Working on PTSD - same. I hardly ever encounter a big problem without thoroughly researching it.
Anyway - I don't know if any of this is what you were talking about. But I do think that these are various and random things that come to mind when I think about how do I try to live a conscious and mindful life. It's a little jumbled. (Irony!!!)