Writings of Recovery

THE ROUTINE OF RECOVERY

I just finished a novel titled, ‘Four Seasons in Rome’. The author chronicled a year living in Rome with his wife and twin infant sons after winning a writing fellowship. Nothing really happens in the story, yet he manages to make the mundane entertaining…the routine of daily life… something worth writing about.

My life (AND YOURS) is worth capturing, whether in thought, oral storytelling, or writing. The daily capture that chronicles the mundane, organizing life, moment by moment, day by day. The culmination of average experiences that create a sum greater than its parts. A life lived. Sometimes well.  Sometimes… well….

My addict life spent many moments using my substance of choice (food) or mentally obsessing over the idea of using my substance of choice (again, food). It was a never ending loop of highs and lows. Succumbing again and again to the lure of the pantry, fridge, fast food restaurant, or Target aisle. Isolated moments built and layered on top of each other, adding pounds to body and pounds to brain. My story is not unique. I hear many stories like mine and know precious ones who have lost the battle to addiction.

And then there’s recovery. An option. A solution. In recovery, I learned that I am my own prison warden and I’m the one keeping myself in bondage. In recovery, I learned that life is not easy for anyone, but that there are healthy tools I can use to create a balanced, stronger and more resilient me. I learned that self care is not selfish. It’s vital. 

Recovery is not a practice of thinking. It is a practice of doing. It’s the action of stacking one recovery oriented action upon another, until it crowds out the addiction. The routine of recovery. Every single day; one day at a time.

Doing the 12-steps.

Doing.

Not did.

Doing.

A lifetime of recovery.

Not a program to complete.

Surrender. Vital. Meetings. Vital. Outreach. Vital. Writing. Vital. Literature. Vital. Inventory and amends. Vital. Prayer and meditation. Vital squared. 

Pressing into the principles: honesty, hope, and faith to name a few. Again, not just thinking about them; it’s acting on them. Living them out. I know I am not guaranteed my next breath, but I do know that if I am granted a next breath it will be within the routine of recovery.