Sober Skaters

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

The program has given me the best days I've ever had. But thinking about all that lost time can still bring me down.
--Jane S.

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

One deceit needs many others, and so the whole house is built in the air and must soon come crashing down.
-- Baltasar Gracian

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

The seed of God is in us. Pear seeds grow into pear trees, nut seeds into nut trees, and God seeds into God.
--Meister Eckhart

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

All my yesterdays run together.
My past is over. My future is irrelevant
My present is all that matters.
And it is designed especially for me.
-- Clara Glenn

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

Today I will let go of procrastination. I will take a look at why I put off responsibilities and how I can change this behavior.

Do I feel that I won't do certain tasks well enough or that they're too overwhelming? Do I set specific standards for myself and then fail because I've set them too high? Do I expect perfection from myself and then put off what I fear will be imperfect? As long as I accomplish my tasks to the best of my ability, I will succeed. I can jump in with both feet when necessary and feel proud that I at least started what I needed to do. Nothing can ever be completed without starting it first.

When I procrastinate, I will never get where I need to go, and eventually I will become overwhelmed and buried underneath all the things I refused to start.

Today I will let go of the desire to put off what needs to be done now.

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de St. Exupery

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

Moving Forward

Time past is gone forever, and we can never go back to it. Even our disease progresses forward. We cannot expect to control it by a return to measures which may have worked for a time in the past. Those methods eventually failed, and trying them again will only bring us to the same point of failure.

The only way to avoid repetitious failure is to move forward creatively as our Higher Power leads us. Each day is a new creation, and each day brings new lessons and opportunities. We build on what is past, but we do not need to repeat it.

Moving forward involves risking what is unknown. The old, familiar rut, depressing as it is, is a known quantity. Moving out of it requires that we have courage and that we trust in One who knows and cares. To move on, we must act. Insights do not produce growth until they are accompanied by specific actions.

May I risk new actions as You lead me forward.

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

Taking it easy

Easy does it. Pushing does not help our program; it only causes more pressure within us. "If it doesn't work," we have thought, "get a bigger hammer." But if we only wait for the opportunity, we will be given the opportunity to work out each of our difficulties.

It is better to work out a problem by taking two steps forward and one step back, rather than to push and try to solve it at once, fail, and then stop trying. It helps to remember that we are never given more than we can handle, one day at a time.

Have I learned to take it easy?

Higher Power, I depend on you for my very breath. Help me realize that the more I depend on you, the more I accept your help, the more I can handle.

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

All experience is an arch to build on.
-- Henry Brooks Adams

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you're learning you're not old.
- Rosalyn S.Yalow

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money.
--Pablo Picasso

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

Don't be a Victim

Surviving

Some people refer to us as victims of our problems, but we should not accept such labeling. A better term for us is survivors.

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.
--Pearl S. Buck

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

The world is a wheel always turning. Those who are high go down low, and those who've been low go up higher.
--Anzia Yezierska

Roger "Doc". Cool

soberskater · Head Ex-Lush In Charge

How many ways can you brush your teeth?

Our habits save time, and some of the good ones, such as abstinence, can also save our lives. A fine line separates useful habits from ruts, however, the former, we wish to cultivate, and the latter, we'd just as soon avoid.

How about trying a new route to work? It might take a little longer, but you'd also have different scenery to view. How about doing some relaxing stretching unwinding exercises before dinner? Introducing novelty into the details of our existence makes us aware that today is a new day and that we can alter our responses.

Habits are our servants, not our masters. When we see how easy it is to change the color of our toothbrush and start with the bottom teeth instead of the top, we can branch out to other, more significant activities. We can make changes in our behavior that will change our lives in positive ways.

What would you like to do differently today? What specific action can you take to begin to climb out of an uncomfortable rut?

I will identify an unproductive habit today and turn it upside down.

Roger "Doc". Cool