Mind Benders
# 1
Do not live the "straight and narrow" life!
Don't even consider it!
Active substance abusers and inmates in your county jails and prisons live "straight and narrow". Think about it. They followed their own "straight way" and now their lives are "narrow". For addicts and alcoholics, narrow by the effects of chemical use and for inmates, narrowed by the consequences of their actions.
Instead, seek to live law biding and substance free. This "straight" way is "wide" with opportunities and personal freedoms. The real "road of recovery" is NOT straight and narrow! It is straight and WIDE!
Do not seek to live "straight and narrow".
Stay straight and live "wide"! - Ed
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#2
Say it with me: "Once an addict . . .
Did you day, "...always an addict"? Yes, you did! I heard you! Change it up! Try this. . .
"Once an addict, once an addict!"
Negative self-labeling is self-defeating! Do not define yourself by your darkest times!
Do not go to meetings and constantly identify yourself as an "addict" or "alcoholic".
Words have a way of shaping our realities.
Don't worry, you won't forget you once had a problem with a substance.
Let's try it again: "Once an addict, once an addict!"
Feels right, doesn't it?
Recover Your Reality!
#3
Do you think about your recovery? DON'T! NOT FOR ONE MINUTE!
Rather, think about their recovery from you . . . .the people you've hurt and disappointed.
You know who they are because you're a serious person.
You were brave enough to examine your previously unexamined past.
You discovered that you had to go backward to go forward.
You felt the pain and the true moral guilt of your actions.
Now, you've committed yourself to never acting like that person again.
You're not thinking about your recovery - you 're thinking of their recovery from you!
Now, you can imagine a previously unimagined future - with them.
- Ed