August 8

”We have no need to find courage. It is already within all of us. We simply need to reclaim it.” Lance Secretan

The transition from loneliness to solitude for me is about stopping my tendency to escape and avoid what I am thinking and especially what I am feeling. Being alone is ok and being in a crowd is alright, but in either case or anywhere in between my head can be on its way out the door into the past, into fantasy, into planning, into regretting, into worry or any other number of places to get away from the here and now as fast as possible. It is all too easy for me to zone out in front of the TV, computer, a book, video game or whatever. It takes energy, effort and courage to stay focused in the present, to let my thoughts and feelings be experienced and then allowed to pass. But the reward is that I have less baggage to carry with me and it makes it easier to live just for today. As I have often written, my life in recovery is a lot less about learning new things as it is in rediscovering my positive traits and abilities that have lain dormant. I am finding my source of courage, hope, strength and resolve that reside at the core of my being and making better use of them. I am reclaiming my body, my mind, my heart and my soul.

Affirmation I will seek out the strengths that lie within me, my Higher Power has given me the tools to use I just need to pick them up.