tay-lyn

Each time I got sober in the past, it didn't last. Although I went to AA on a few ocassions for a small duration of time, I could never stay sober. I now know that is because I didn't 'work my program'. I didn't try to 'recover'. I didn't call my sponsor, not once. I didn't do the steps. I didn't attend meetings regularly.
I WANT to recover this time. I want to be in 'recovery' so that I can manage my disease. It is difficult for me to get to meetings as my husband works a lot of hours out of town and I have a new baby. I have a friend in AA who attends an informal get-together at another AA member's house on Wed.. I am going to attend those so that I can have some weekly fellowship with other AA members.
BUT, my question is, what exactly IS recovery. I have a pretty good idea, but what is really involved when someone starts working on their recovery? Is there specific things I need to be doing, reading, etc.?
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Tay.

AddictionRelief

I would go read others stories and what brought them into a successful recovery. Use these forums to your advantage!

reed

Roger Waters is a bad a**. My recovery plan- 28 day rehab- I moved to a different state in halfwayhouse (6months)-don't pick up-go to a meeting everyday-sponsor (call frquently),get a home group and fone numbers (dial em don't file em), work steps-job, make rent-
Live among people in recovery (in Delray). Exercise. Stay away from slippery places. I changed everything about my life, gave up freedom, my car, my family, a good job, my education and all my friends who I love....sobriety comes first, watch everything else fall into place.

tay-lyn

That's it! Sounds so easy! LOL

Thanks for the input. I know you're right about making changes.
Albert Eienstein said it best.....The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results....(or something like that).
I can't expect to stay sober in the exact same life situation I stayed drunk in.
You gave me some good things to think about. Thanks Reed.

Anna

Recovery for me, meant stripping away all the 'stuff' that I believed about myself. My whole belief system had been based on my upbringing in a toxic family. I needed to rip away everything and see what remained and then move forward from there. It was a painful process. I needed to find a reason to be here and for me, I believe that reason is to follow my soul's path. I learned from a book called "The Seat of the Soul" by Gary Zukav. It was what I needed at the time and it has been my guide through this journey.

SF69

Thanks for posting this question Tay-lyn, and also to everyone who's answered. Sometimes I need that reinforcement that there's more to sobriety than just not drinking.

Astro

Wow tay, that's a pretty broad question. This is what my recovery is about, in no particular order:

AA meetings every day
CoDA meetings when I can
Practicing the Steps and principles as I go through the day
Prayer, spirituality, and meditation
Service work
Helping other alcoholics
Trusting in my Higher Power
SR of course!
Abstinence, not drinking no matter what
Exercise and eat right
(I'm probably forgetting a whole bunch of things)

I always try to remember two AA slogans. "Keep coming back, it works if you work it", and "faith without works is dead". Recovery for me is a lot of work, 24/7, but it's worth every bit of effort. I start when I wake up in the morning, and I stop when I hit the bed at night without taking a drink.

Dee74

It was the author Rita Mae Brown, actually, but she sounds pretty smart too.
D

CarolD

Recovery for me means ....

Having God back in my life
Staying connected with AA
via meetings and living the 12 Steps.

The results are fantastic!

Luckyv2

Well I have figured it out but than again I probably haven't

I always thought that you had to change everything and etc....right away in which somethings you probably should but to keep it simple for me I like this

Recovery is a process not a event and I can crawl or take baby steps for it is the journey that I am on and with the help of other things the process that I will stay on.

bugsworth

Recovery means different things to different people.

For me.....

Recovery requires working on all of the problems and issues that led one to drink in the first place.

Recovery involves lifestyle changes.

Recovery involves developing a support system.

Recovery requires working on yourself daily and fixing what is broken.

IO Storm

Hello...

What is recovery?

Abstinence....

You are doing what can already..way to go! An informal AA meeting...you can go

further by getting a copy of the AA Text (Big Book) and read when the baby

is napping...and possibly other recovery books if you like...

Make sure you get phone numbers from women at this meeting so you have some

additional support.

Stay on SR...

Good luck...

And Happy Valentine's Day!

:ghug3

IO

tay-lyn

Actually it WAS Albert Einstein who is mainly credited for this quote, however, it was also used 100 years before him by Benjamin Franklin. Rita Mae Brown was born in 1944....this quote was around LONG before she was born.

If you're going to make a point of correcting people, make sure to get your info right.

To those who replied to my thread and gave feedback on my question, thanks. It is interesting to read about everyone's idea of recovery. It seems to me that it involves so much more than I had imagined. If I want to stay sober, I'm going to have to start working on my recovery soon. I thought it would simply involve reading a few books, saying a couple of prayers, attending a few meetings. Sounds like it is a life-changing choice.
Thanks for the feedback.

Dee74

Thanks for reminding me of the days when I would have researched this obsessively to prove I was right.

Nowadays I see it just doesn't matter.

Thanks for sharing!

It's great to be able to experience the warmth of recovery with you!

D

tay-lyn

Thanks D for taking my comment so well. I worried that I was too harsh. I'm glad I didn't offend you.
FYI: I didn't have to research anything, much less obsessively, I was familiar with the quote's history and I also happen to be familiar with Rita Mae Brown.
And I'm happy you are will to share recovery with me, at first it seemed to me, from all your replies to my previous posts, that you were only interested in criticising me.
I say that because the only communication I've had with you in the past has been negative. I don't want to have a pi**ing contest with you and I don't want to have any negativity on my threads, so perhaps we should just agree to disagree and maybe we shouldn't post on each others' thread.
Thanks,
Tay.

Anna

Let's keep the focus on recovery.

Otherwise the thread will be closed as it is serving no purpose.