Читать книгу My Five-Year Recovery Planner - The Editors of Central Recovery Press - Страница 10

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Dreams Call for Planning, Not for Controlling

You may hear these words or a variation of them in twelve-step meetings: “If I had made a list of what I wanted from life when I first entered recovery, I’d have sold myself short.” When a person enters recovery, often all he or she wants is for the pain to stop, the obsession to quiet down, and the mess that has been made of life to be cleaned up. But once recovery has begun to take hold, and the recovering individual begins to work the steps with a sponsor, to be of service, and to attend meetings, the realization that there is more to life than just abstaining from active addiction begins to dawn. The possibility of living “a life beyond one’s wildest dreams” now seems to be more than just a distant prospect. It begins to seem more like reality.

Think of all that addiction has robbed from you—perhaps you have lost your family, your home, your possessions, and your hope, along with your self-respect and self-esteem. Relationships may be dead or dying; friendships that were once vital may seem all but impossible to revive. Money problems may be a looming threat. Yet, you see others in your recovery fellowship beginning to thrive. Since you now know the program of recovery that works for them works for you, perhaps you are allowing yourself to hope that you, too, can regain some of what you’ve lost and that you can rebuild a new and better life—and you can. But how?

Recovery teaches us to be grateful for what we have in our lives today, and no matter what, each of us can find something to be grateful for.

Making a five-year recovery plan calls on each of us to continue to build on the assets we have discovered as we worked the steps. These are worthwhile and acceptable activities that can help us build a stronger recovery.

Planning for a better future does not mean being ungrateful for the present. It is about doing “the things I can” to build on the gifts of recovery that you have already received.

This planner is not a Fourth- or Tenth-Step inventory guide. Rather than looking back at past mistakes and character defects you need to address, you will be identifying your wishes, hopes, and dreams for the future. You will lay out a vision of your future and discover for yourself the steps you need to take to make that future a reality. It’s a beautiful thing to look forward to living life beyond your wildest dreams; but first, it’s important to identify and clarify what those dreams really are. This journal can help.

List the wildest dreams you have right now. Don’t be too analytical or hypercritical. There’s no right or wrong answer; think of this as a sort of “benchmark” for future reference.

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