These days, I can over-complicate my life and get into overwhelm quickly. I don’t have the bandwidth for chaos, which in my drinking days I seemed to thrive upon. Sometimes I have to just pull back and be quiet. Start with where my feet are. Right here. Today. Return to the basics of my own routine of recovery. I need to do what works to keep me centered.
Routine: a regular course of procedure.
When I was drinking, my life was scattered and chaotic. Drinking helped me quiet the chaos, especially in my mind. When I stopped drinking, I was still in my brain and the thinking was still there. I had to learn another way to quiet my thinking and acting. Going to meetings helped with that. Sitting and listening to others share their hopeful experiences of how they did that.
When I first got sober, someone in an AA meeting came up to me and said, “have you done 90 in 90 yet?” Of course, I didn’t know what that was. They told me to do 90 meetings in 90 days.
That gave me a focus. All I had to do was go to a meeting every day for 90 days? Ok, I can do that. In fact, being the obsessive person that I am, I got out my calendar and marked all the meetings I was going to attend. I began the process. I also attended more than one meeting in a day and ended up doing MORE than 90 meetings in 90 days! Little over-achiever that I am, ha ha. When I got to the end, I thought, “Now, what?”—It occured to me that it was now a part of my daily routine and my life.
What a concept.
Retraining my brain to incorporate those meetings into my daily life. Routine Maintenance. I used to despise the word routine, because it seemed so boring. But now I count on it for my stability.
We can break the cycle of addiction, which is partly habit (routine.) The addiction cycle is what we think works for us, but in reality, is temporary and not helpful for a healthy lifestyle.
Now, I count on the basic routine every day:
• Surrender to God
• Say the Third Step Prayer each morning
• Connect with others
• Go to meetings
• Pray for God’s Will for how to serve others.
The Third Step Prayer
"God, I offer myself to Thee—
To build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt.
Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will.
Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness
to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
May I do Thy will always! Amen."
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