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Old 07-09-2020, 08:03 AM
  # 12 (permalink)  
Aellyce
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 10,912
Many things on my list were already covered above. Another area that I find immensely important to live a sober life that is rewarding and enjoyable is to always work towards a set of goals that are appropriate for a particular stage of my life. I enjoy doing useful and productive things. Even if I don't achieve all of them, simply the intention and doing the work creates meaning and the results a life worth living and maintaining - a powerful antidote to my past alcoholic life and occasional temptations. I enjoy identifying problematic areas that get in the way of achieving my goals and my mental peace, and looking for ways to improve and solve the issues. I also find it important to periodically re-evaluate my values, whether the things I do truly give me meaningful experiences, and whether they contribute to some larger good than my mere daily satisfaction. It also means staying connected to the world in many ways vs. self-absorbed, isolated and often delusional world of active addiction. I most often find that when I feel internally restless and conflicted again in sobriety, it is related to not really being aligned with my true sense of self and values and taking shortcuts, submitting to procrastination and easy instant gratifications again... In simple terms: open-ended, ongoing re-evaluation and improvement. Some people use AA or some other structured program for the same thing. Looking for guidance, joining something structured and tried can be very good I think sometimes, especially if we feel lost or stuck at a given time.
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