August 7

”Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” Robert H. Schuller

They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Well, there are also cases where the opposite is true. Sometimes distance is a welcome visitor to help detach from people who have been poisonous in my life. And yet, even with the distance, small amounts of contact with those people from my past can bring those old wounds to the surface. It’s in these moments that I need to be able to turn to my hopes, to reflect on all the progress and change that I have made. I could all t0o easily fall back into reflecting on my regrets and pain of the past. This serves me no useful purpose; it will only depress me and take me away from the present moment. I am worth so much more now and I owe it to myself and the good people in my life to stay positive and to concentrate on all the great things I have. My hurts are there to fuel my transformation into the better person I have become. They can also shape my future, but my hopes are better suited to shape my goals and dreams. I have many things to be grateful for in my recovery and I look to find more each and every day. Life has become something to look forward to, and I am better able to move past the small hurts and reminders that threaten to disrupt my serenity. I am a bigger person than those petty arguments and spiteful words that can be thrown my way. I will stay on the good path.

Affirmation

Life can bring troubles yet I can decide to look past them and focus on the good things in my life. I have the power to choose to stay focused and positive.

July 5

”The first thing, the last thing, start from where you are.” Dale Pendell

I don’t like when I find myself in a situation where I am stuck with a particular incident running through my thoughts that it is the only thing I concentrate on and I lose sight of everything else. It is maddening to become so frustrated, hung up, obsessed by what someone has said or done, or something that I have done or said that I am no longer living in the present. Times like these make me feel like I am back in my active addiction, unable to manage my life and simply being out of control. It is challenging to break the cycle, to find a way to simply stop and breathe, reach out to my Higher Power, call someone from my support group, or change my direction and come back to the here and now. I can lose minutes, hours or even days “what if’ing” the event to death. When I finally exit this state of mind, not only do I get upset for the time I have lost, but I have also often neglected others as well as important events that are a part of my life. I truly need the assistance of my Higher Power to let go of the things beyond my control as I can all too easily fall into their clutches. I need to do a self-reboot, refocus myself in the present moment and take a reality check. Only then can I feel secure in taking the next step forward.

Affirmation I will try and be aware of the thoughts and feelings that preoccupy me today. If they persist I need to find a way to let them go to stay present.