Hello dear reader. You will see my usual weekly post tomorrow, but wanted to share a (condensed) sample from the "I've Been Sober a Long Time - Now What?" workbook. Note that the workbook contains more room for your own writing than what I'm sharing here.
The price will be going up in the next week, so if you've been thinking about it, buy now at $15 U.S. (new price will be $20 in U.S., $30 for out of the country). Please contact me at shadowsandveins@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Chapter 1 – Taking Stock
When we first enter sobriety, most
of us aren’t thinking of the long term. We come in to get the heat off, to save
a marriage, a job, or both, to repair relationships with our children, or
simply because we can’t go on living chained to the bottle or the bag or what
the doctor ordered. Some of us may have wondered if we’d be taught to drink
responsibly, without consequences, and were upset when we learned that total
abstinence is the best prescription for alcoholism and addiction. But we
listened and learned from the examples of those around us, from our sponsors,
and from our new friends in the rooms of recovery. We began to grow up.
With willingness
and at least some humility, we learned to live sober, and to take the necessary
actions to move into a life of recovery. Life became good, or at least
different. Often, we developed a new social network of like-minded individuals.
And then,
seemingly in the blink of an eye, we wake up and find ourselves with long-term
recovery. Ten years, twenty, thirty, go by in a flash of life-on-life’s terms...
Long term recovery
comes with a certain amount of responsibility. Being an elder doesn’t mean that
we won’t have troubles, but it does mean that we are role models for walking
the walk rather than simply talking the talk...
Self-care is no
longer a theory, whether related to our physical health or our emotional
well-being. “Someday” is now, that elusive here-and-now that we read about and
glimpse from time to time. That being said, we cannot stay in recovery based on
what we did ten years ago, or even ten weeks ago. What is it that I need to do today?
“How do I stay
engaged in the recovery process, in my recovery
process?” is a question to be asked as time moves forward. Sometimes it can
feel rote, like a cozy and comfortable rut. Sometimes we get bored, and think
that we’ve inventoried all we need to inventory, heard all the stories we ever
want to hear. One of the biggest challenges of long term recovery is to keep it
fresh, to keep growing spiritually and emotionally. That takes effort, effort
of a different nature than that required of early sobriety, effort that may ebb
and flow, but effort nonetheless.
Literature, trying a new meeting, taking on a new sponsee, or a new
sponsor, hitting a meeting out of town – it is an individual journey, but one
we don’t need to take alone.
Long term recovery comes to me one day at a time. Once, my counselor asked me if there was a recovery 2.0! Like do we ever graduate from AA? The answer is no, keeping my AA program simple like when I came in still helps me to stay sober today. I still have a home group, work the steps, have a sponsor and I sponsor.
Although
it was all I used when I was young, AA is not the only way that I get what I
need for my recovery or self-care anymore. I go to meetings now once or twice a
week (as opposed to seven days a week for years!). Now I try and go to yoga
three times a week, therapy once a month, pray & meditate, soak and get massage,
make art and practice writing, travel, walk and spend time outside in the
natural world...
For
reflection:
1. How is my life different today than when I first entered recovery?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What
goals have I achieved along the way, and what dreams have I let go of?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. How has my inner life changed?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. List at least 10 gratitudes
6. List intentions or goals as related to recovery, relationships, health, work/retirement
Describe any challenges, internal or external What are my strengths, my positive qualities?
Jbassett now what workbook (copyright)
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