Still thinking about this post! Tools are critical, are they not?? Anything that puts the focus on us and our recovery.

I went to the doc this morning for the first time in about 5 years. I don't need to tell anyone how much we neglect taking care of ourselves while in the "crazy place" with our addicts. I'm ready to take care of myself, now. I need to lose a lot of weight and start "feeling" my feelings instead of "stuffing" them with food.

So my new summer project involves creating a binder filled with family-friendly recipes/meal ideas. I want to try a couple new recipes every week. The kids (teens) know about the project, and they're excited to have "voting" nights at the dinner table. :-) I'm revamping some old recipes to be more healthful, and I'm searching high and low on the internet for new recipes to try.

I really like cooking, but it was the last thing I wanted to think about when the house was constantly in crisis. Dinners were crap. Pizza. Carry-out. Anything quick, easy and less than healthy. Now that I've learned how to set boundaries and control what happens in my house, life is better. So I want to start cooking again!

Planning meals again... experimenting with recipes... working on a family meal book... This is one of my new tools to stay in recovery and start thinking about myself... and the health of my household, too.

I hope this thread keeps going. :-)

Ive picked up a lot of "tools" I guess you could say since trying to recover from the mess my husband and I made ( I say "I" because I did play a roll in this mess, I acknowledge now that I am codependent)

First off, Sober Recovery is a huge tool for me. Even if I don't post, just reading the posts and the reminders that I am not alone, helps.

Secondly, reading. Taking suggestions from others on this site and purchased Codependent No More. (Im not finished yet, but WOW...eyeopener!!)

Third. I find myself saying "YES" to the invites to friends BBQ's and/or meeting with the girls for dinner or a movie. And note, I am not saying YES because I feel obligated. I am saying YES because I really want to spend time with these people! They make me feel normal again! They love me BACK! And that feels so good!

Fourth (this might sound a little goofy) -- Couponing! I'm on a super tight budget, especially with the AH in Rehab again and there is no chance of intercepting a paycheck (since there isn't one) so I'm learning to master the science of Coupons, and I've been saving quite a bit.

I hope you can add some of these, or suggest any of your own. I don't own an Iphone or a Kindle, so these are some of my less electronic ways of spending my time, and using tools to get my mind off of my AH.

Resurrecting this thread from about a month ago for those who weren't here then, I have a deck of Wisdom Cards by Louise Hay that a friend gave to me. Here are two of the affirmations that I especially like:

"I cannot learn other people's lessons for them. They must do the work themselves, and they will do it when they are ready."

and

"I allow others to be themselves."

What a great idea for a post.

I actually went to the craft store and bought two old fashioned tool boxes. I then bought kids "fake" tools. One box is for the "tools" I had prior to recovery, the second box is for the tools I have now that I am in recovery. Each tool is labeled with a skill/tool that I now poessess and this list is going to help me to add some to that box. I have it displayed (not for the general public) but in a place that I get to see on a daily basis.

Thanks for this wonderful reminder.

Just downloaded Codependent No More and have been reading it on my Android/iPod. I'm already feeling better and I've only read the first chapter.