Finding the strength to get clean and sober is a personal decision that offers hope, peace and freedom from drug addition, and once the pain of detoxing is over you no longer have a drug or alcohol problem... you now have a life problem, and this new problem is easily overcome with some simple daily action and willingness to seek recovery one day at a time!
If you or someone you know has struggled for years trying to stay clean and sober then I am sure you are asking the question, "How can this be so simple if I can't seem to stay sober for any length of time?" The answer... Nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy, and although walking on the daily path of sobriety is simple, it is by no means easy!
The toughest part about staying sober one day at a time boils down to 3 things:
Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness! To the new person this can be just too much to take in all at once. The good news is that we don't have to... Remember we are taking it one day at a time and as long as we don't stumble and get drunk along the way, then we are winners for the day, and we will continue on the next day, and so on and so on.
Honesty Honesty means claim responsibility for our recovery and admit that we are alcoholics and that our lives are unmanageable. This is the 1st step in recovery, and by practicing this powerful step in recovery we begin to learn the truth about our addiction and ourselves.
Open-Mindedness The power of open-mindedness opens a new spiritual door to us in the form of new ideas, suggestions and possibilities. As we go to meetings and talk with others about our new life in sobriety and staying sober, we will be exposed to different ideas and perceptions on staying sober. We must never discount or discard these ideas, this is called contempt prior to investigation and the very idea we disgard could be the one that saves our life!
Willingness This principal is the "Action" part of our daily journey in recovery, and with it comes the strength to grow in our new life. We must consider the suggestions offered to us in meetings and in the NA BigBook as our continued sobriety depends upon it. By taking these action steps we are building our foundation of sobriety making it solid and robust, and when we are faced with obstacles we resolve to become willing to be willing!
Sometimes one day at a time is much too long, and we must take it one hour or minute or even one breath at a time...we claim spiritual progress rather than perfection! (AA BigBook page 60)
Here is a passage from an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) pamphlet that provides a plan for living sober one day at a time.
Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways; I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don't want to do - just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
Taking in the good and discarding the bad One of the hardest things to learn in the recovery or 12-step community is what advice or information we hear in meetings or from speaking with others actually comes from the AA BigBook. As I got sober for the last time, I found myself going to a lot of AA meetings, following and watching people who had a substantial amount of clean time, and intently listening to what they had to say. If they quoted a passage from the BigBook and I would make note of what page they said the particular passage was on and I would read it later in my room. If they didn't say what page the quote was on, then I would introduce myself after the meeting and politely ask them what page was their quote was on. This was my method of filtering out the message or ideas that were not part of the Big Book, and I was told long ago by a member of AA with over 55 years of sobriety that if a persons "message didn't come from the Big Book, then chances are it was nonsense!
I didn't know it at the time, but what I was really doing was trying to look for the message of hope in all of those NA meetings I went to, and by finding what pages in the NA BigBook held those messages of freedom, it helped me to carry the message to other others.
Staying on the path Once we have established a new daily routine in sobriety, we keep working at it fine tuning and building upon it. There are no absolutes other than we simply do not get loaded...and as long as we walk together with others on this beautiful path of freedom we will have to the power to overcome any obstacles we face... One Day at a Time!
If you or someone you know has struggled for years trying to stay clean and sober then I am sure you are asking the question, "How can this be so simple if I can't seem to stay sober for any length of time?" The answer... Nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy, and although walking on the daily path of sobriety is simple, it is by no means easy!
The toughest part about staying sober one day at a time boils down to 3 things:
Honesty, Open-mindedness, and Willingness! To the new person this can be just too much to take in all at once. The good news is that we don't have to... Remember we are taking it one day at a time and as long as we don't stumble and get drunk along the way, then we are winners for the day, and we will continue on the next day, and so on and so on.
Honesty Honesty means claim responsibility for our recovery and admit that we are alcoholics and that our lives are unmanageable. This is the 1st step in recovery, and by practicing this powerful step in recovery we begin to learn the truth about our addiction and ourselves.
Open-Mindedness The power of open-mindedness opens a new spiritual door to us in the form of new ideas, suggestions and possibilities. As we go to meetings and talk with others about our new life in sobriety and staying sober, we will be exposed to different ideas and perceptions on staying sober. We must never discount or discard these ideas, this is called contempt prior to investigation and the very idea we disgard could be the one that saves our life!
Willingness This principal is the "Action" part of our daily journey in recovery, and with it comes the strength to grow in our new life. We must consider the suggestions offered to us in meetings and in the NA BigBook as our continued sobriety depends upon it. By taking these action steps we are building our foundation of sobriety making it solid and robust, and when we are faced with obstacles we resolve to become willing to be willing!
Sometimes one day at a time is much too long, and we must take it one hour or minute or even one breath at a time...we claim spiritual progress rather than perfection! (AA BigBook page 60)
Here is a passage from an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) pamphlet that provides a plan for living sober one day at a time.
Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways; I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don't want to do - just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
Taking in the good and discarding the bad One of the hardest things to learn in the recovery or 12-step community is what advice or information we hear in meetings or from speaking with others actually comes from the AA BigBook. As I got sober for the last time, I found myself going to a lot of AA meetings, following and watching people who had a substantial amount of clean time, and intently listening to what they had to say. If they quoted a passage from the BigBook and I would make note of what page they said the particular passage was on and I would read it later in my room. If they didn't say what page the quote was on, then I would introduce myself after the meeting and politely ask them what page was their quote was on. This was my method of filtering out the message or ideas that were not part of the Big Book, and I was told long ago by a member of AA with over 55 years of sobriety that if a persons "message didn't come from the Big Book, then chances are it was nonsense!
I didn't know it at the time, but what I was really doing was trying to look for the message of hope in all of those NA meetings I went to, and by finding what pages in the NA BigBook held those messages of freedom, it helped me to carry the message to other others.
Staying on the path Once we have established a new daily routine in sobriety, we keep working at it fine tuning and building upon it. There are no absolutes other than we simply do not get loaded...and as long as we walk together with others on this beautiful path of freedom we will have to the power to overcome any obstacles we face... One Day at a Time!
About the Author:
Sandy M. is a Freelance writer who has been sober for over 6 years. She specializes in Recovery from Drugs and Alcohol topics. She has authored articles for www.stepuprecovery.com and www.womensrehab.net.
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