~ OPPORTUNITY ~
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"In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity."
Albert Einstein
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Pain, struggle, and difficulty can be
catalysts for changes in me. If I am
having so much difficulty living the way
I do, then surely my current means of
coping and survival are not working. The
insanity of it all was that in spite of
all the proof I saw that those methods
did not work, I continued to live the
same way -- and suffer the same
difficulties and struggles -- for many
years. Then opportunity for change
knocked on my door. I found TRG online.
The Recovery Group program has shown me
that there are much better ways to deal
with life than to stuff myself with
food, fear, resentments, and anger. The
methods and tools I have been given here
work. My defects still rear their ugly
heads, but I no longer live focused on
-- or living in -- those defects. Now I
direct my thinking to program material,
prayer and program works. What a gift
that has been! Joy is mine for today ~
for the taking!
When I find that what I am doing today
is not working, what do I need to do? As
a COE with no recovery I would have kept
doing what wasn't working. That made no
sense, but that's what I did. Now when I
struggle with the food, I look at my
thinking, 'cause thinking affects how I
feel and feelings impact my
compulsions. When the thinking starts to
spiral downward I know I need to act. I
need to read program material, contact a
program person, pray and meditate,
and/or do program service. I need to use
the tools to get me focused back on
recovery.
ONE DAY AT A TIME . . .
I will be mindful of my thinking, and
when negative or self-pitying thoughts
arise, I will remember that I have the
opportunity now to redirect and refocus
anew on recovery.