MIRecovery

IMO opinion recovery is about change and change is something nobody likes. I don't believe there was one thing in early sobriety I wanted to do or liked doing. I was way outside my comfort zone and that is a fearful place to be. I was fortunate to have a mentor with 30 years of sobriety who assured me I wasn't going to die and that things would get better. I changed and things did get better.

Today I'm more committed to change than I was then but the changes are much deeper and more long term but change I must.

This recovery thing ain't all rainbows and unicorns but if we are willing to do the work the rewards are beyond out wildest dreams because unless we change we are condemned to stay the same

Time2Rise

I'd agree that many people fear change; however, it has been my experience that many people also enjoy change. I know I’ve always found that change brings a little excitement to my life.

IMO change can be fun, enjoyable and enlightening. The mind is stimulated by new things, and new learning. I don't believe recovery and sobriety have to be particularly difficult if it is approached with the right mindset.

I say this because IMO many people won't even attempt to quit because they are fearful, and they are especially fearful that quitting will be too difficult and they will fail. But again, it's a matter of perspective: if you think getting sober will be impossibly difficult, it will be.

So for me it’s pretty simple, I can’t drink, so if I’m going to be sober, I’m going to enjoy the process of getting sober and living life sober. To that end I have the following comment on my phone’s note app and I read it at least once a day:

“I will enjoy my sobriety. It will be rewarding, happy and fulfilling."

And so far it has been.

The mind is truly a wonderful instrument if it's used skillfully.

IronPhoenix

Could not agree more. We must be willing to change our recovery plans as needed to push ourselves .

The AV is just laying in wait for complacency to set, no matter how far you may be down your recovery path.

MIRecovery

Today's AA reading how appropriate


I love spending time in my garden feeding and pruning my beautiful flowers. One day, as I was busily snipping away, a neighbor stopped by. She commented, "Oh! Your plants are so beautiful, it seems such a shame to cut them back." I replied, "I know how you feel, but the excess must be removed so they can grow stronger and healthier." Later I thought that perhaps my plants feel pain, but God and I know it's part of the plan and I've seen the results. I was quickly reminded of my precious A.A. program and how we all grow through pain. I ask God to prune me when it's time, so I can grow.

August252015

Change = growth in my book. Change = challenge to be better. Change = inevitable, for alcoholics and everyone else.

Two choices: make it or go with it when given to you, or flounder, fail and quite possibly for the alcoholic, die.

I "had" to change when I finally quit drinking. Quite simply, I would have been dead somewhere around 6 to 9 months from now in all likelihood, and I finally accepted that and decided that wasn't going to be the case (due to drinking). Keeping the forward movement in my program- and the totally unanticipated change that has happened, along with what I've been told and seen alive in others would happen- is now the change I seek. Handling whatever the change and the new are is what I do much better now that I have a strong program rather than the undisciplined, chaotic, wrong-living world of an alcoholic.

Boleo

I agree "long term" change is much more important than short term change.

Those who seek only short term change are like "The first little pig who built a house of straw".

Long term change are more like the "Third little pig who built a house of brick".

MIRecovery

Totally agree.

When I was referring to short term change I was referring to things like dumping drinking buddies, staying out of wet places, or having a dry house. Things that are relatively easy to accomplish.

Long term goals include spirituality, honesty, living in the moment, becoming a different person, healthy sober relationships, sober activities, incorporating soberity into your way of life, clearing up the wreckage of the past, the list goes on and on.

Today my house is on a solid foundation and made of bricks but the roof leaks in a few places when it rains hard

Lightning Bug

Well I for one LIKE change and I am going to keep on making them!

EndGameNYC

Living.Life.jpg

MIRecovery

I love the results of change but the changing not so much

EndGameNYC

There's an old saying by some writer that goes, "I hate to write, but I love having written." I've known writers who feel the same way.

The quote was for a long time attributed to Dorothy Parker, but with the ease of confirming and disconfirming quotes by people who've never said or written what some people thought they'd said or written, the quote is in dispute.

SnazzyDresser

David Bowie had a good song about changes. Turn and face the strange!

teatreeoil007

I remember childbirth and reaching a certain point in hard labor where I truly felt I could not go any further! Told the nurse and Dr. 'I can't do this anymore'. It was sort of an overwhelming feeling of being stuck and unable to push the baby out.

Well, I am grateful there were others there who spurred me on and encouraged me to keep pushing, (EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T WANT TO) resulting in the birth of my beautiful babies. No other feeling in the world tops giving birth, but it was also one of the hardest things I EVER DID. (some women have an easier time of it I realize)...Was there pain involved? Yes. But what an outcome. But, I do distinctly remember coming to a point of wanting to give up. Then realizing the only way was to keep going (forward).