Have you ever stopped to just sit awestruck in amazement at how remarkable this one life we are given truly is? We are handed the power of choice and a conglomeration of opportunities to be something or nothing and live as we please- within boundaries of course. We, as in the human race, tend to make errors once in a blue moon while making those choices and finding our way. Not too often though do we mess up, I mean we were all born as perfect people in this perfect world, right? Right. Throw addiction and alcoholism in there and that percentage of perfectness dwindles just a bit. That’s the delusional reality we convince ourselves of at least. Everybody else see’s the natural disaster for what it is and knows that the fires will have to be put out before everything burns away.
Hopping on your computer and diving deep into the inner workings of the Googles, we find the word “reprieve”- a cancellation or postponement of. In regards to the equation of chemical dependency and recovery, it couldn’t be more fitting. Sobriety in and of itself is a daily reprieve. Staying clean is an easy difficult task that takes a lot more work than most would realize. There are things that addicts and alcoholics have to do to preserve this sanity they’ve rediscovered. A daily maintenance if you will, to keep all the checks and balances in place. Really most people should have a daily reprieve of some sort as they would benefit tremendously, but alas, the world is not always that simple.
Reflections
When we stop to take a good look at sobriety and any recovery related aspects, it is proven time and time again that the practice of relapsing starts way before the actual act is performed. It all starts in the mind. The daily reprieve is what keeps relapse at bay essentially. If I had a nickel for every time I’d see somebody doing well in recovery and slowly seeing this wave of complacency glaze over them- I’d have a couple bucks at least sadly. You see, the sad part about it is that it’s the beginning to an end when this mindset takes over. It is a shortcut right back into the pits of misery and despair that our alcoholic thinking will gladly walk us into. Recovery delivers us the promises, but at some point on our timeline, we start to get bored almost.
Addicts and alcoholics crave excitement and impulsivity usually. As everything becomes mundane and we forget the things we were once grateful for, the alcoholic thinking upstairs begins to get louder and louder. It’s amazing how quick this cycle of mindset can appear as stress begins to build up and all appreciation goes out the window. This is where a daily reprieve is crucial for keeping addicts and alcoholics like us on our toes. Oftentimes, we are not aware of something until we hit the brakes and take a second to look at life from a subjective standpoint. We all generally want to point the finger and call out others, but how often do we do that for ourselves? Taking time to truly look at one’s self and discovering through introspection what makes you tick can be exhilarating in itself.
One of the most therapeutic ways for a daily reprieve to render itself could be through the power of writing. Pulling out a piece of paper and a pen can seem like a chore sometimes. We live in a world where necessity is important and everything else is effort. It’s easy to forget that some of the things we don’t want to do are the ones that are going to better us. Kind of goes back to the cliché, “whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” Learning to journal is an important tool in a daily reprieve that can allow the author to get thoughts out on paper and literally vent to themselves. Sometimes in life, we don’t realize something until it’s literally in black and white right in front of us. This form of daily reprieve is almost like playing your own therapist. Pen to paper equals revelations to the brain.
Continuing with the scribbles of our daily reprieve, there are other writing tools that are just as useful if we choose to use them. Manifesting a gratitude list of sorts for a daily reprieve can really open the eyes of the author and shine light in certain areas that maybe we shaded and jaded beforehand. Fortunately, this is not school or work but for self. It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself to be extremely intelligent or uneducated; we all need some form or expression. When we as individuals write about hardships and our daily struggles, it allows us to put things into perspective that would ordinarily be difficult to do mentally. Although as recommended before, keeping a mental list of our struggles can be a terrific outlet- it can also be confusing and heavy. Writing out these things were thankful for can really allow some huge growth and change in a person’s daily reprieve. It all takes just a little bit of practice and wanting to continue the way of life that the promises have delivered and we’ve now become accustomed to.
Look Into Your Eyes
There are some nasty places out there that our alcoholic thinking takes us to. If there is a hell on earth, being an alcoholic/addict and going through such misery should win first place. It’s a grueling pain that our addiction drags us through until we find the inner strength to detoxify from the chemicals and attempt to climb out of this hole we’ve dug for ourselves. But it does take patience and it does take help. If you or a loved one has been struggling to make the next step, please call 866-433-1992 or visit www.anylength.net. We have trained specialists on standby ready to help you start sending your life in a direction that will have you come out on top feeling healthy and happy with the outcome of your future. The time to love yourself is now.
