Thanks for sharing. It was important to fill up my life with good thing to replace the time I spent drinking. I did two meetings a day for two years. I went to special events with a girl that I went through treatment with. We went to a noon play, went to the park and went on the teeter totter and played on the swings and allowed our Inner Child to come out and play. Many people sit in coffee shops, but I wanted more structure to my life. I had friend in and I had enough of four wall, when I isolate, I isolate my spirit.
When I quit cigarettes (took me 7 years to become willing), I went to NA and picked up key tags and instead of filling up with food, I used crystals, meditation, and meetings to fill the void. As they say, "The Fellowship of the Spirit." We can do what I can't do alone. Instead of gaining weight, I lost 3 lbs. I heard a counselor tell a girl not to worry about the sweets and eating, and so many girls went back out to get thin. Many don't know that depression is part of the grieving process of detoxing and letting go of what use to be our friend, who became our worst enemy. Doctors don't know, addicts and alcoholics don't always get honest, they get put on anti-depressants and they get dependent on the almighty pill or substitute one drug for another. If you don't have a chemical imbalance, you are probably not an addict. If you have mental issues, you just may need medication and Dual Recovery Anonymous is a good place to go. I have shared at a couple of their meetings. I was given lots of labels, but it mostly boiled down to, don't pick up, go to meetings, get a sponsor, get a home group, and get active in service. It take 11 months to detox from alcohol. We are really not capable of being honest enough to do a Step 4 until we get our one year. Many do a Step 4, when in reality, they are just doing Step One in long-form.
It doesn't say to list ALL our sins, just admit we have them, doesn't say to list how many times we sinned each sin. It is a just for today program. One day's thoughts, feelings, actions, situations, etc. and just because I have a feeling, doesn't mean I have to act on it. I am not sure if you have heard of the Bill and Charlie tapes, they are really good. They say you can't have a craving unless you injest your DOC or substitute another one. We may have a mental obsession which we can pray to have removed, but we can't crave something, unless we are using a substance be it our drug of choice or something else. Pill and pot maintenance generally took people back out. I also had to address my eating disorder. It is all one day at a time.
Tennis is one of those things I filled up the void with. I like Andy Murray. I am glad he won this year although I was cheering for the Canadian Milso Raonic.
