We’ve pressed in further, helping answer the question as to why you have committed to getting sober here in Module 9. The decision to live life, staying in the source, committed to the good, connects you to deep roots. All of us experience brokenness, disappointment, trials and challenges. The transformation possible on the solid ground of sobriety is only limited by our own fears and unwillingness to change. Let’s begin with our review of day 1.
Day 1 – Your Reason to be Whole
- Day 1 asked the question of why you are becoming whole? What is your direction and purpose? Gaining clarity on this is a transformational key. It addresses not only physical sobriety but emotional and spiritual sobriety as well.
- It encouraged you to dream big and discover your passion and purpose.
- This dream reaches beyond material goals. It includes both day-to-day and long-term goals.
- Day 1 also emphasized the importance of engaging and sharing with others, sharing the transformational impact your life has undergone.
- Telling your story with your whole heart and spreading hope to others that sobriety success is possible. What impact has this renewal had on your life?
- In your continued journey it is important to stay in touch with what makes you sober and whole. We have never arrived!
Day 2 – The Road Less Traveled
Two roads diverge in the wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost
- The poem illustrates the importance of making decisions. The Day 2 lesson emphasizes:
- Listening to the heart of love
- Leaning on wise counsel.
- Tuning your inner compass.
- You will have to hold yourself accountable when others are not around to do so.
- Life tip: This self-accountability will keep you in close contact with others in the recovery world, including sponsors and mentors, not isolated from them.
- One of the main lessons I receive from this poem is that even if you end up choosing the wrong path, you have made a conscious choice of which way to go. You have gone forward. You can make a correction if you need to. So, listen to that inner compass. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
- When acting on convictions to make positive changes you may find them to be counter-cultural, counter-peer group, or counter-family. Swim on!
- Your core being is strengthened. No longer are your boundaries as blurred.
Day 3 – The Truth About Sobriety
- The truth about sobriety is that your life is precious and valuable.
- Wisdom’s protective jacket surrounds those who chose to live according to its life-giving principles.
- This lesson shared the need to burn off the dross. Dross is defined as that which is worthless. The dross that has clung to you over the years needs to be burned off. It will take time. This walk on solid ground is a marathon not a sprint.
- Dross can show up from old attitudes, lack of motivation and negative self-talk. You are not the dross. But you must recognize when it pokes through and disrupts the vibrant flow of life.
- You have moved into new territory and the new life there must be protected from anything that would pull it up from the roots or blow it away.
- Stay on this new ground as you continue to grow, blossom, and bear fruit. Enjoy the fruit that has already appeared.
Day 4 – Everyday Miracles
- This lesson talked about everyday miracles and its connection to innocence.
- You saw the video by Natella Isazada on opening to child-like innocence to view life and the world through fresh eyes.
- It talked about smashing the attitudes and beliefs that pull you down and keep you from believing in the goodness of life and its infinite possibilities.
- You learned about overcoming fear through the Indiana Jones illustration where he needed to take that first step of faith to cross the great crevice. He couldn’t see the bridge across, but when he stepped forth with courage in the face of fear, the bridge appeared!
- The lesson encouraged you to call upon the fresh waters in forming new disciplines to reach new goals. Can you see over the past into the bright future that lays ahead?
- The questions for reflection for the lesson was: What part of transformation is our responsibility? What brings you the greatest sense of wonder?
Day 5 – Long-Term Sobriety and Looking Back
Day 5 started by painting a picture of how to start your day. Is it with a sense of peace being led rather than being driven with anxiety?
- You heard testimony from my life about the destructive results from living in active addiction. It was a work hard, play hard mentality together with a strong pride and arrogance that led to a terrible car crash.
- The inner dialogue of I deserve to relax by drinking and using, were misplaced.
- The hopes to fill in the void of low self-esteem by numbing and chasing after sex were futile and not without serious consequences.
- Even after drunkenness had set in that dark night going from bar to bar, it wasn’t enough. It continued to an after party where you hear that no one really cared about what would happen to the person loaded and then getting behind the wheel of a car.
- Raymond discovered that even though he wasn’t living like his life had any great value, he wasn’t left alone in his greatest time of need.
- He wasn’t listening to the source of life to make wise choices, but the source of life was still aware of where he was in the pit of despair.
- Looking back and identifying the bad moments helps you to remember why we continue to choose sobriety, free of desperate moves and the chaos of the past. There was a clear line drawn in the sand, and he had chosen and been guided to life.
Day 6 – With a Smile in Your Heart
- Day 6 Invites you to acknowledge and mark the distance you have traveled going through this Recovery Educational Series.
- You heard about early North American explorers and their coming to the Pacific Ocean after having trekked across endless hills and valleys. That smell of salted air invigorating to their wearied souls and bodies.
- You heard about the Shawshank Redemption and the 20-year struggle of the main character Andy Dufrane in a hard, seemingly hopeless prison. His final 300-yard crawl through the sewage into the life-cleansing rains of freedom was a scene of great hope and triumph!
- Then was the video on wisdom’s characteristics and the qualities of wise people. This contrasted the large (unquenchable) expectations of pride and greed with the contentment of basic needs for the humble. The wise look to the horizon knowing the storms of life will come. They wisely keep watch.
- The lesson continued by showing wisdom to be a precious treasure to be shared with the world. It asks the question:
Will you treat your sobriety like it too is a precious treasure?
Conclusion
Life is a gift. Life is truly challenging. We all have a choice in how we approach the hills and trials. We have the choice to remain sober or not. We spend time in reflection and get determined in consistent action. Following through and working towards a better life each day opens us to a sky above our heads and a solid ground beneath our feet. We ask the big questions of what is most important in this life? We find practical applications to accomplish the work ahead of us. Remember to breathe through the moments that give us great pause. You have and will be tested. Let the warrior within fight the battles of life with love and wisdom. There is great joy in store for those that overcome.