Live One Day at a Time

"Recovery Doesn't Take a Day Off"


Just about everybody has heard the expression - Live one day at a time. This philosophy not only a good one for those of us in recovery, it's a pretty good idea for everybody. My belief is that everyone is recovering or needing to recover from something. If that is the case, recovery is something that you must work on every day. For some folks, at least at the beginning, making changes in our lives is not always one day at a time, it may be one hour at a time. The following ideas may help you with that one day at a time concept.

  1. Read self-help, spiritual, and recovery related books.
  2. Ask folks who have been successful in making changes in their lives, whether from an addiction or any other wanted change or improvement, how they accomplished that goal.
  3. Get involved in some type of support program like AA, NA, OA, GA, or Celebrate Recovery; then get a sponsor.
  4. Consider working with a life coach.
  5. Build a support system of folks who know you well and are willing to encourage you, recognize your progress, maybe even hold you accountable…but never shame you.
  6. Make it a habit to ask questions in prayer or meditation, while listening for the answers.
  7. Consider journaling your daily thoughts, feelings, and reactions to what is going on around you and inside of you too.
adapted from "In Recovery Magazine"
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Recovery Quotes

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
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It's not that some people have will power and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change, and some are not.
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You don't get over an addiction by stopping using. You recover by creating a life where it is easier not to use.
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Recovery didn't open the gates of heaven and let me in. Recovery opened the gates of hell and let me out.
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Recovery is about progress, not perfection.
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My recovery must come first, so that everything I love in life doesn't come last.
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Tis the Season… for Hope

This is the time of year when folks talk a lot of about hope for the coming year, resolutions, plans, priorities, etc. There will be more people entering recovery programs during January and February than any other two months of the year. Sadly, those same folks will not stay in a recovery program for a significant amount of time and most of those folks will return to their addiction of preference in the spring of 2019. Why?

It could be that many folks enter into recovery out of desperation and a sense of fear. They don't begin with a sense of hope and a belief in another way to live life. Unfortunately, many folks discontinue those programs before that belief can be nurtured into existence. This is true for all modalities of treatment.

Our belief is that recovery is best when it begins with HOPE. This is not just wishful thinking. It is a confidence in life, that we, can be better, be healthier, and be free.

So, how do you develop and maintain that kind of belief, that HOPE?

  1. Enter a program that truly believes everybody can recover and recover for a long time. They call it "long term recovery."
  2. Spend some time visualizing, meditating or praying on what you want for your life. See and hear yourself doing and saying the things that help you to be healthy and free of the addiction.
  3. Surround yourself with healthy people. Stay in touch, via Facebook, text, phone, and face to face meetings, or any method that keeps you connected with those helpful and hopeful people. Ask them questions about how to live life. If they are in recovery, ask how they got started and how they have stayed moving in a hope-filled direction. The opposite of this is staying away from folks who drain the hope right out of you. Some folks in your past life will be jealous of you and will attempt to bring you down. So, stay connected with those folks who nurture you and your progress.
--Rick B.
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Dr. Candace McDaniel
8021 East Thornton FWY, Suite A
Dallas, Texas 75228

Call (214) 328-4848 or

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