If we are living the creative life in recovery, what does that look like?
How can we set up our life so as to enhance our chances at staying clean and sober? What is the framework for the creative life in recovery?
Traditional recovery frameworks
With traditional recovery, you might find a framework such as this:
1) Daily meetings
2) Sponsorship
3) Stepwork / self discovery / inventory / journal writing / etc.
4) Recovery literature
Or you might find someone else who is using a different sort of framework:
1) One-on-one counseling or therapy sessions
2) Group therapy
3) Drug therapy or maintenance
4) Long term treatment
In each case, the person who is recovering uses a few main strategies as their recovery program. These strategies make up the framework of their recovery program, because it gives them a baseline of actions that they can engage in.
As we progress in recovery, our framework should shift towards something closer to this:
1) Helping others in recovery
2) Caring for our health – in all areas of our life (physical health, emotional balance, spiritually, etc.)
3) Seek personal growth
You will notice the framework gets a bit more broad at this point and that is fine. If you interview a group of people that all have at least 10 years in recovery, you will find a wide variety of recovery strategies. For example, one person might focus their program very heavily on meditation, while another might not meditate at all (but instead, uses daily exercise to accomplish much the same thing).
Other examples include looking at the different ways that people give back and help others. Some people will be heavily involved in the 12 step fellowships and sponsorship, while others might have other ways of connecting with people in recovery.
The framework you use for recovery is a set of basic guidelines that can point you in the right direction. But we each have to find our own path and make it our own as we learn a new way to live.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I just turned on my computer after 5 days and was instantly directed back to a good place in my mind and sobriety. I am so grateful for this place right now. 2 reasons. 1.) i’m right with you on a ontinuous growth concept – if for no other reason than I never want to say “i got sober and i’m exactly the same person only sober.” I don’t want to live with the person I was when I got sober. I was a drunk without beer in me. Not wonderful. and 2.) This is tied in with yesterdays post – Did I go through absolute undiluted hell to die from eating too many twinkies? Also I believe that If I’m eating to cover something up I’m missing the lesson.Thank you so much for your work. It’s really helping me!
Hi there Fawn
Thanks so much for you input…I was hesitant to post about the emotional eating but I am glad you found some value in it. It is related to addiction but for some people it never even becomes an issue at all.
I am going to try to keep growing myself and I hope you do the same…thanks again for your comment.