Robert is the Recovery Guy. Getting clean and sober on April 25, 1986 has given me the insight and practical skill set to not only stay sober, but to also re-invent myself to the person I always wanted to become. Showing others how to do this is my life goal.
Once again, in many aspects of life musts are negotiable and other areas of life they are not. I could give other examples but let’s move on to recovery from addiction. This addiction can either be substance based and or behavioral.
When we first come into recovery we are infants who can barely roll over let alone crawl, stand, or walk. As we move forward in our recovery process and opportunity, we begin to grow a pair of wings which we will use as we learn how to fly. Some will grow a pair of wings and never use them. Others may limit themselves in their flight and or flying experience based on their fear or restrictions that others place on their flying. Learning to fly is about overcoming the perceived laws of aerodynamics and exploring new heights in our personal recovery. If you have not learned how to fly, I invite you to do so. Please let me know what I can do in this area. I wish you well and a happy soaring.
I should be more truthful in my objectivity to areas needing to be corrected. Far too often I am willing to negotiate with the truth.
As a person who has recovered from the bondage of addiction, I now help others find their way to the same freedom. One of the ways I do that is to live aloud and express a sense of happiness, mixed with joy and a demonstration of freedom. As you will learn in today’s podcast being happy, joyous, and free is foundational in the life of everyone who lives this life of recovery. I hope you feel the same way. If you do not, I hope by the end of this podcast you find yourself moving in that direction. Be blessed and have a wonderful day.
As do many concepts and ideas, things look much easier on paper than they are when we play them out in real life. Moving from fear to living in faith is one of those things. We must do this if we are to become well.
As a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous and a recovery speaker, I have always appreciated the opportunity to share my experience, strength, and my hope. It is through this Ave that I seek to teach and learn at the same time. I learn because I am making sure that my own life is in order, as well as updating myself on recovery information, while teaching individuals things that I have learned along my 36-year journey. Join me in this podcast, as I share that experience, strength, and hope, with those seeking to incorporate the common solution into their lives.
When I was in my addictive condition, I found it exceedingly difficult to celebrate. The more my condition deep and the less I celebrated and eventually I stop celebrating altogether. Coming into recovery I learned that just not drinking and using, while not engaging in the other negative behavior, was the beginning of a new approach to celebrating life. That celebration has continued for over 3 1/2 decades. I learned to celebrate each victory. I learned that celebration was an outward expression to an inward change. Let us look at this word celebration and speak of it in terms of our personal recovery.
No one really knows what it takes for an individual to get to a place where they can no longer deny or dispute the obvious facts surrounding the depth of their addiction. For every person, they come to their own place and time if they are to get well. As I previously stated, most of those addicted will either die or live a life that is minimized and happiness if any is realized at all.
According to Wikipedia, The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one wants to be treated. It is a maxim that is found in most religions and cultures. It can be considered an ethic of reciprocity in some religions, although different religions treat it differently.
As a result of this understanding, those of us in personal recovery, realize that to be served we must first serve. In other words, If I want to stay sober, I must be as concerned toward others as I want others to be concerned for me.
As we go down this road of reinventing ourselves, reclaiming the things that we lost is a priority. Two of the areas we lost related to personal power and personal time. Since our life became so out of control any semblance of power was imagined and when it was real it was fleeting. Our personal time was equally affected.
One of the things built into healthy relationships is making amends. This is universal and something that everyone should keep in mind as we explore a healthy balance in our relationships. If this is true for the average person, how much more is it true for the person who has struggled with addiction and or behavioral challenges.
One of the most challenging things that any of us do is finding what works. When we start down the journey of recovery we must decide what is going to work for us. When I was an obese person I tried various diets and types of activity that could help promote healthy food choices for me. I ultimately decided on gastric bypass surgery. That procedure ultimately gave me a new start. It would also transform me physically that could allow me better control and helped me change my mental approach to food. It’s the same thing with any type of recovery. Regardless of where we are at in our personal life and whatever we are looking to overcome, we must find out what is going to work for us.