The time for healing is always the present moment. No need to push it to the future like tomorrow, or the next day, or the following week. Prosperity and abundance of life and health are waiting around the corner. The value of taking it one day at a time means a slow rebuilding process, but then again, nobody with addiction got there overnight. Taking this principle and applying it to recovery takes practice and diligence but it is worth fighting the daily battles to get there.
Know the Present
In early recovery, many people get lost in focusing on the past, worrying about what went wrong, and mentally revisiting bad choices. This is a waste of time, energy, and resources, but can be valuable as well to the overall process of recovery. It can also be a way to put off living in the present moment because it’s easier to focus on the past than to rebuild the present from scratch (at least it can feel that way). Spending hours upon hours in the past can be self defeating until a person really focuses on changing just what is in front of him or her and building a better future today.
Recovery (Life) Lessons
Once the fog of early recovery begins to lift, appreciation can return for the gift of the present moment. Focusing on a higher power can be helpful including 12-step approaches or finding a similar group to share experiences with around addiction recovery. When a person starts to worry, a partner or friend in a group can help turn the head, heart, and soul in the right direction. Living in the present can be developed day by day but it transfers to all areas of life, not just recovery from addiction itself but to life in all its various shapes and colors.
Time Heals
The diversity of people who are in recovery is broad and vast, with everyone bringing certain gifts and talents. Time is one thing everyone shares equally in that every single person gets 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year, and those people get to choose how to live those moments and days. Each person can choose to invest free time in quality activities or not, but it is irreplaceable and cannot be returned once it is gone. But a person can choose to live differently moment to moment, day to day, and turn their life around, regardless of the past.
Mastery of the present comes from a few simple rhythms:
- Develop a habit of writing a ‘to do’ list every day
- Include prayer and meditation as a daily habit for stress reduction and to boost overall health
- Attend group meetings
- Writing down priorities to tackle each day and work at making progress
- Don’t beat up oneself for not accomplishing everything. Notice what didn’t work and try again the next day–without judgment
Success, like sobriety, comes one day at a time. At Cypress Lakes, we understand this takes months, even years, to get on the path to consciousness of how to spend one’s time on better, more positive endeavors to boost the mind, body, and spirit. We can help you get moving in the right direction. Call us to find out how we can help you get started. 866-217-2636
