Kindeyes

One of the things that are used in 12 step programs are slogans. I use slogans all the time. They are short but quick reminders for me to stay focused on my own recovery. Here are some of my favorites (or variations on them). Please feel free to add your own favorites!

- Live and let live
- Let go or be dragged
- Let go and let God
- One day at a time (or hour or minute or second if a day is too long)
- It works if you work it
- HALT. Don't get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired
- If you don't want to slip, stay away from slippery places (or slippery people)
- If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got.
- Progress not perfection
- Recovery is a journey not a destination
- Easy does it
- Cultivate an attitude of gratitude
- Misery is optional
- Feelings are not facts
- Nothing changes if nothing changes

These simple little reminders keep me grounded and there are so many more. I will never be grateful that my dear son is addicted, but I will be eternally grateful for the things I have learned and the people I have met as a direct result of his addiction.

Have a great day everyone!

gentle hugs
ke

wuzzled

Agreed! The slogans are sometimes the only thing that gets me through my day. Really love the one "let go or be dragged"! Never heard that before.

Windmills

One day (minute!) at a time has dragged me through many a bad day! I'm FA so we don't use all of these but there are several I recognise

Atom

Let go or be dragged.....my goodness, how TRUE!

Impurrfect

Insanity is doing the same things over and over, and expecting different results.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

PurpleWilder

Pain is inevitable but misery is an option.

Only the end of the world is the end of the world.

The only things you have to do are die and pay taxes (helpful when the alkie is trying to get you to do something NOW, dammit) which leads to...

An emergency on your part doesn't constitute a crisis on mine.

PurpleSquirrel, you would try to think your way out of a burning building. Who cares why it is burning - just get out! (for those who overanalyze everyhing - sometimes it is just better to leave the situation and worry about the why of it later)

Kindeyes

My new favorite!

itsanewday2011

These are awesome quotes. I always use the "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"

LoveMeNow

I love this one by George Carlin ~

Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.

Scrapbooker

My sponsor recently told me when I was going on about why my AS is or is not attending meeting, still working for a pharmacy, etc. etc. "wasted energy" your energy is so much better spent concentrating on you.

Charon

Your best thinking got you here.
-- anon

Alcoholism is the only prison where the key is inside.
-- anon

It's alcoholism, not alcoholwasm.
-- anon

It's not an event - It's a process.
-- anon

My brain is not my friend.
-- anon

Look at what isn't happening to you anymore.
-- anon

I am one thought away from a drink & one drink away from a drunk.
-- Rocketman

Sometimes I think about having a glass of wine with dinner. Then I
remember I have plans for Christmas.
-- Robert Downey, Jr.

Alcohol gave me wings, then it took away the sky.
-- anon

I love the Carlin quote!!!!!

Kindeyes

Absolutely! I love this one!

Codependence is the next cell over.

Absolutely!

I loved all of these! Thank you for sharing!

gentle hugs
ke

lightseeker

Right now I'm living off of "if in doubt don't". My ex husband keeps texting me/emailing me wanting a response to "acknowledge his existence". I made the decision to go no contact and that means no contact. I almost broke down and responded that I am not going to respond and this slogan stopped me.

It's so easy to fall back into the insanity. Slogans have definitely helped my sanity.

Kindeyes

You and me too!

I've heard it said that slogans are "wisdom in shorthand".

gentle hugs
ke

FindingJoy

"stay on your side of the street"

"their choices are none of my business"

"is this acceptable behavior"

"thnk with your head not with your heart"

"this too shall pass"

MsPINKAcres

This was a hand-out I picked up at an Al-Anon Convention ~ have it taped to my wall at work to keep me focused on my recovery. . .


SLOGANS IN ACTION

Just For Today,
I will Let It Begin with Me
And Think, How Important Is It
Before I lose my serenity
And if I Keep It Simple
When my mind wants to burst
I will remember Easy Does It
and place First Things First
And isn't it kind of Funny
When I feel I've bottomed out
I find hope and courage when
I finally Let Go and Let God
But For The Grace of God
I can Keep An Open Mind
And learn to Live and Let Live
One Day At A Time.

MeredithD1

The slogans really are awesome and help me too.

One drink is too many
A thousand is never enough

That's from AA and can be applied to Nar-Anon and Al-Anon too according to the circumstance

And then there's the Kindeyes quote in my signature that I love and helps me measure my behavior.

tbeit

"The suggestions are free you pay for the ones you dont take"

Anaya

Great thread and very helpful messages from all of the slogans!

Praying, reading faith-based books and magazines, and thinking about the message in Footprints in the Sand all give me hope and comfort.

dbh

Thanks for the thread!

Here are some of my favorite quotes/slogans I have collected over the years. Since I'm an ACA, many of them have an ACA slant.

db

• Don't quit 5 minutes before the miracle happens.
• Be part of the solution, not the problem.
• We move from hurting, to healing, to helping.
• Fake it until you make it.
• I can't, He can, I think I'll let Him (Steps 1,2,3)
• Switching from one compulsion to another is like switching seats on the Titanic.
• You don't have a problem. You have a solution you don't like.
• If you're working your own program properly, you won't have time to work someone else's!!
• A smooth sea never made a good sailor.
• If you have to talk to more than three people about the same problem, you don't want help, you want attention.
• We'd be surprised what people think of us if we knew how seldom they do!!
• If you like everyone in your meetings, you're not going to enough meetings!!
• Gossip and criticism do not belittle the other person; they belittle me.
• Keep the focus on yourself
• Say what you mean; mean what you say
• Live and let live
• Try to become the person you'd like to come home to
• Where I am right now is exactly where I should be
• I am enough
• Try not to be a persecutor, victim or enabler
• Have your feelings, but don’t let them vote.
• God gave me a life, and I didn't want to disappoint Him by wasting that life locked in the loveless prison of fear constructed by a child who, through no fault of his own, just desperately needed his parents' love.