"Before we got clean, most of our actions were guided by impulse. Today, we are not locked into this type of thinking."
Basic Text p. 87
Life is a series of decisions, actions, and consequences. When we were using, our decisions were usually driven by our disease, resulting in self-destructive actions and dire consequences. We came to see decision making as a rigged game, one we should play as little as possible.
Given that, many of us have great difficulty learning to make decisions in recovery. Slowly, by working the Twelve Steps, we gain practice in making healthy decisions, ones that give positive results. Where our disease once affected our will and our lives, we ask our Higher Power to care for us. We inventory our values and our actions, check our findings with someone we trust, and ask the God of our understanding to remove our shortcomings. In working the steps we gain freedom from the influence of our disease, and we learn principles of decision making that can guide us in all our affairs.
Today, our decisions and their consequences need not be influenced by our disease. Our faith gives us the courage and direction to make good decisions and the strength to act on them. The result of that kind of decision making is a life worth living.
Justfortoday: I will use the principles of the Twelve Steps to make healthy decisions. I will ask my Higher Power for the strength to act on those decisions.
Hi Jayson, another excellent read. Making informed decisions is a skill that requires some work, executing those decisions requires discipline. This is what I have learned in my years of managing operations and companies. Good managers make informed decisions and act on some of them. Excellent managers gather all the information possible and execute the decisions immediately. This is all good except when you are on holidays, a little drug free impulse makes things fun.
Kenh
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God is the only one you can depend on in recovery.
Thanks Jayson for the good work of posting the JFT Meditations for the day... Keep the miracle alive... Glad you're here with us and we all need you
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
Decision-making in recovery: Terrifying at first because of a long history of making poor decisions. A little easier after some practice. Today it's pretty easy and I have enough practice that I feel pretty comfortable and confident.
The trick for me is to not react, to not be hasty. I find that the majority of decisions I face are not urgent (even though they might feel that way sometimes), so I can afford to take my time. I have learned to wait for my emotional reactions (ego, self-centeredness, fear, desire, etc.) to subside, gather more information, talk to my sponsor and support group, and meditate/listen.
More often than not, by the time I get through that whole process the decision has either made itself or is so obviously clear that it might as well make itself.
Jayson, thanks for posting this topic. It's a winner.