I know that my addiction is a disease that I will have the rest of my life. I am so very humbled and greatful to have my fellow "posters" to share my journey with, traveling alone lets my disease progress. I acknowledge that with the help and support from each and every single person who shares my disease that I have the ability to learn, grow, improvise, adapt, and continually surrender. I am married to a wonderful man, despite all his imperfections and character defects. I simply (used simply lightly lol) inventory myself and learn about me and my addiction by reflecting on myself instead of pointing out the things that he does wrong. I think to myself why does it bother me and is it really his problem...I THINK NOT. It is mine and I love him even more becuase of the growth that I am able to accomplish by choosing to learn about me through his character defects.
At the NA meeting I attended last night, one of the male members said something that was really inspiring. He was talking about how he has seen certain faces come & go. He also talked about how he loves to see the same familiar faces (the same people who have kept coming back during the previous 4 yeas he was attending meetings). And he also mentioned how he has liked seeing the new faces as well.
I haven't been attending meetings nearly as long as he has, but I can certainly relate & agree to how these people DO become your family. I must admit, I've gotten "attached" to certain members in a short time already. I look forward to seeing a lot of them and hearing what they have to say. I can relate to a lot of their stories and it REALLY helps to know that I'm not the only one. If they can do it, I can do it. If they got through it, I can get through it.
I don't know about anyone else, but it IS like a FAMILY in my NA meetings. And, to me, this board is yet another family I belong to. (Thank you for having & accepting me!)
Anyway, back to the member I was talking about.... After he shared what he wanted & needed to say, he ended by saying "please keep coming back, I need you as much as you need me." That was VERY inspiring and I also felt it was something that SHOULD be said.
I'm someone who knows that I need people - especially fellow addicts - to help me on my path to recovery. But I may not realize that OTHERS may need me like I need them. This particular person is a man who has been clean for over 4 years now (and that's 4 years longer than I've been clean). As someone who has only been attending meetings for a few weeks now, of course I need all the help I can get! And that especially includes the support from addicts who have "been there." But, again, I AM still fairly new to NA (been attending for a little over a month now). I had no clue that people who had YEARS of sobriety still needed fellow addicts for support as much as I need them.
I recently started a journal (kinda like a scrapbook) to keep track of myself (so to speak) - in addition as a new "hobby" I guess. I write what I'm feeling sometimes (whether it's along the lines of happy or sad) and I'll also include artwork, poetry, inspirational quotes, etc. I HAVE included some writings of how I've felt in the past when I was using "most." I guess this is kinda so I can look back and see how far I've come (even if it's just a short amount of time, you CAN go far). Another reason is because I think it's also a way for me to keep looking into the "roots" of my problem & how/why my disease started in the first place. I don't know if anyone else has done something similar as this or thinks it's a good idea and/or helpful coping skill? I've seen people who have websites online about their "story" of addiction & their road to recovery (I just decided to do mine in a journal/scrapbook format instead)...
Sometimes I bring a notebook with me to my meetings and when I hear something inspirational or helpful, I'll jot it down. Is this considered "wrong?" I don't include members' names or anything. This is something I do mainly so, if I'm feeling "bad," I can look back at these "quotes from other addicts" that helped me during the meeting. I guess jotting them down & adding them to my journal is helpful for me. I can look back & remember something someone has said during a meeting that was encouraging or motivating, etc (something I may have "forgotten about.") Not someone's entire "story" when they're sharing, but just a sentence or two they may say that affects me at the time. For example, as soon as I heard the member say "please keep coming back, I need you as much as you need me," I jotted it down in my notebook (to add to my journal for inspiration & encouragement should I need some later on - and I know I WILL need more later on!) I think we all DO need that type of motivation!
I was just wondering if anyone else here keeps a journal or scrapbook? Or do some of you mainly create a website that includes this sort of thing (as far as what you may have heard in meetings or what has helped you most on your road to recovery?) Since I'm not using names, not writing down every single word someone says and not showing my journal/scrapbook to the world, is it "wrong" to quote a fellow addict in a meeting the way I do? (With the sole purpose to be to add their encouraging words to my journal/scrapbook for motivation?)
