Share an inspiring or motivating quote

[PnorkelPW]

"There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope." - Bernard Williams

Another great quote @Peace Dove ……….Sunrises and sunsets have always been a bit magical for me. I have a favourite rock at the beach near my house and go and lay there to watch the sunset as often as I can. Watching the colours of the sky and natural lightshow that Mother Nature puts on just mesmerises and calms me in ways not much else ever has. It’s a time where I can completely switch off and just be in the moment.

As I sit there and let my mind settle, let the thoughts and problems of the day make sense and just generally unwind, I’m reminded that no matter what…………the sun will come up tomorrow. Every day is a new day to start again and work solutions, no matter how big the problem.

These days as I drive to work the new way I found some time ago I watch the sky change colour again as the sun rises and gives me brand new opportunities that didn’t exist the day before. It’s a new day to correct the wrongs of previous days and achieve new goals I was unable to reach. The sun rises over the country fields and I just smile. Some days as the fog lifts it adds another mystical layer.

Sunrise and sunset. Opportunity. Hope. Reflection.

[CRAZYGRANNY]

Healing isn't easy. Change isn't easy.

Transformation isn't easy.

Dedication isn't easy. Consistency isn't easy. Showing up for yourself isn't easy. Doing the work isn't easy. Personal responsibility isn't easy. Growth isn't easy.

Most things that bring us meaning and purpose in this life don't happen easily. They happen because we keep showing up anyway.

[Cobinator74]

"I am who I am because of what I do, not what I say, !"


"I.ve developed a new philosophy,
I only dread 1 day at a time!"

[Peace Dove]

Hi everyone,

Thank you @CRAZYGRANNY and @Cobinator74 for sharing these quotes. They're very inspiring and motivating for everyone in this community.

On this occasion, I'm going to share a quote that will hopefully help us reflect on not dwelling in the past and rather focusing on the present:

“Don’t let the past steal your present.” Terri Guillemets

Often we hear people find it hard to deal with feelings of guilt and shame, however, lapses and relapses are often part of this journey and an opportunity to learn what went wrong and can be done better.
Does this resonate with you, can you relate it to your recovery journey? @PnorkelPW @ScorpionPW @CRAZYGRANNY @initae89 @Cobinator74 @apples123 @SUNNY1234 @Sydney1 @requiem4me @Gigi13 @Giraffe004 @DorisDay @jimmy2020

[ScorpionPW]

I love the quote that you shared @CRAZYGRANNY, it reminds me that what I have needed to be successful in recovery is to just keep going no matter what. To just not pick up a day at a time no matter what, to not give up giving up no matter what. The idea that I can make a decision to put my action in a certain place regardless of what I'm thinking or feeling was like the key that was missing that helped me to stay clean.

I really like yours too @Cobinator74, actions certainly do speak louder than words. A lot of my recovery has been about making a living amends to those close to me and to just show through my actions that I have become a different person and gradually, overtime watching the world around me respond to me in a way that matches the person I am now...which is a hell of a lot closer to the person I want to be

And @Peace Dove, "Never let the past steal your present" just reminds me of the work that is so necessary to do in recovery. That it's all well and good to leave the past where it belongs, in the past and to focus on a new life in recovery. But I believe there always comes a time (well there certainly was for me anyway) where it's vital to look at what things from my past am I still bringing into my present? What life experiences/trauma/defective patterns of behaviour are colouring the way I am in the world and in my relationships today? Not being afraid to examine this and seek help to work through things when they arise. It has been so important for me to realise that stopping the substance use is merely the tip of the iceberg. For me, real recovery is finding a new way to live, finding new ways to cope and behave and not being afraid to face the things that I used drugs to run from.

I believe some kind of process of significant cognitive and behavioural change is vital for on going recovery. Before I surrendered to a process like this I kept relapsing because I never dealt with the reasons I abused substances in the first place. It's the admission and realisation that the drug use itself was merely a symptom of the underlying issue/s.

It has been really grounding to reflect on this, I am wondering how this resonates with others?

[initae89]

I don't have a quote to share at this time but it was great to read all the responses and be inspired.
Thanks to everyone for sharing!

[Peace Dove]

Hi everyone,

It's time to Share an inspiring or motivating quote. So on this occasion we are going to reflect on what courage is:

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you have no strength.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Does this quote resonate with your journey? @PnorkelPW @ScorpionPW @Tryingeveryday @initae89 @abc1995 @Possum3 @Opdno47 @Hippo Lady @Becoming cynical @Dharma @Cherry150

[ScorpionPW]

I like this one @Peace Dove, it reminds me that recovery is always possible and no matter how low a rock bottom is that it's never too late to turn things around and find a new way of life. Also that getting through early recovery has given me a resilience that I now carry with me throughout my life that I will always be grateful for.

In the early days of recovery some days were so hard to get through that it would feel like every five minutes was an hour. Some days making the choice to not pick up for the day was really hard to follow through on. It was through the support of others and realising that my feelings can't kill me that I had the strength to sit through extreme uncomfortability and emotional pain without using a drug to try and run from it. Each time I got through a difficult compulsion to pick up and I didn't, it became easier the next time and through this process I began to believe that I could do this.

This is how the resilience built, bit by bit, day by day, moment by moment. Now I know that if I practice discipline, am willing to sit through discomfort and seek support when I need it that I'm capable of changing or achieving anything I want in my life. The only thing standing in my way is me...

I'm keen to hear how this quote resonates with the other peeps?

[PnorkelPW]

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you have no strength.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Another great quote @Peace Dove and another great line from @ScorpionPW ………..”The only thing standing in the way was me”…………I identify with that a lot because when I stopped trying to do things my way and stepped aside to let others in to help my life got a whole lot easier.

I say life got easier because it did. Life didn’t get easy though…………and it never will.

The biggest discovery I’ve made along my journey is that fear ruled my life, fear fed my addictions, fear prevented me from believing I was capable of a better life, fear prevented me from believing I was capable of recovery. When I discovered what fear really is and how it impacted every decision I ever made…………I discovered what I needed to do to create a better life and I discovered I have more courage than I could ever have imagined.

The fears that kept me trapped in addiction were different to what I expected. I knew I had a fear of heights, I knew I had a fear of tight spaces, of being bullied in high school………..I didn’t know I had other fears though. Fear of people not liking me, fear of financial insecurity, fear of confrontation, fear of trying new things, fear of failure, fear of walking into a room full of strangers, social anxiety…………the list goes on. I let these fears dictate my decision making my whole life……….until I started to live this chapter of my recovery journey.

I’d used substances to mask these fears my whole life and it was only when I started to confront these fears that life got easier. This required courage and it still requires courage every day of my life. Courage I didn’t know I had. Courage I know I have now.

It takes courage for me to be the first to say hello to a stranger, to admit every morning that I’m an alcoholic and an addict, to admit my defects of character, to own up to my mistakes, to admit my mistakes to other people and take action to make amends, to be myself and like the music I like, the clothes I like, the people I like. It takes courage decide not to surround myself with people who might bring me down and to make decisions that protect my recovery every single day. If I don’t summon this courage every day then I’m on the path back to addiction very quickly.

This hasn’t been an easy ride and it won’t ever be. There are days where I wake up and my mental health isn’t great, my motivation is low or life just feels like it’s getting on top of me and I just want to stay in bed and not face the world. There are days where I want to say “Stuff it!!” and go out on a bender and get really messed up…………but I know now that by doing so I’d be running from life instead of living it. Living life takes courage………..courage to face the difficulties it can throw at me.

I want a better life for myself, for my daughter, for my family and friends. I need their help to find the courage to keep living life in recovery and when I don’t feel like I have it………I have a Higher Power to draw courage from. I haven’t done this alone. I know there must be a Higher Power out there because when I’ve thought I don’t have the courage to go on or make the next right decision………I’ve found the courage somewhere.

Courage isn’t about making decisions……….it’s about making the right decisions.

[Peace Dove]

Hi everyone,

Today we have another quote to help us reflect on lapses, relapses and pretty much applies to any sort of slip in life:

"I never lose, I either win or I learn" - Nelson Mandela

We have spoken about lapses and relapses becoming a learning curve in the recovery journey and this quote summarises that concept beautifully.

What are your thoughts? Does it resonate with you? @PnorkelPW @ScorpionPW @initae89 @Lubly @Freedom Finders @johnno @mylesduffy @weary_heart_restless_soul @PhoenixBlack @Bunnycode @Betterme1

[ScorpionPW]

I love this quote @Peace Dove, you can always trust Nelson Mandela for some gold and words of wisdom

For me, this definitely resonates with life in recovery but not so much in active addiction.

A way of describing this is that in active addiction, I would keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. I would be going around in circles, chasing my tail, stopping using and then convincing myself that if I approached my substance use differently surely I would be able to control it and end up somewhere different. Everytime I "slipped" it was only a matter of time before I was at complete and total rock bottom and despair again. I know this isn't true for everybody and I know that for some people they can slip up and find a way forward without things getting to the absolute extreme again, I was just never able to. For me having a "slip" or a "lapse" is incredibly dangerous because I know what the reality is, there's no off switch once I pick up the first one and if I go down that road again there's a chance I could pay with my life.

In recovery though, it's completely different. Because I have freedom of choice I can make choices, invite new experiences and give myself permission to make new mistakes...I can have a crack at life! Before getting clean I didn't have the freedom to have a crack at life because I was incapable of putting anything before using or doing anything in a day before getting on. Now I really believe that if I'm making new mistakes then it's a good thing, it means I'm living my life and giving myself permission to have a human experience. I need to make mistakes in all areas of my life to learn in all areas of my life, learn about the kind of person I want to be, what my values are and how to line my behaviour up with those values...it's a process of trial and error. It's when I find myself in patterns of behaviour that don't line up with my values that cause the alarm bells to ring for me again. If I find myself in a cycle of repeating the same mistakes in any given area, continuing to end up in the same place and attempting to delude myself that I'm in control. The good news today is that I can identify those patterns and cut the cycle off, I can make a choice to redirect and try a new trajectory, I can let go of the fear of trying something new and not rely on the comfort I get from behaviours that give me instant gratification but ultimately work against the person I have become and the person I strive to become.

I'm really keen to see how this quote resonates with others!

[initae89]

I always believed in that sort of thinking when it came to life, school, work. I'm a Type A sort of person. But at the same time, that motivation was driven by a lot of self-doubt and insecurity. And achievement in other areas was just a compensation. But with addiction, it was the first time where I felt "fine with losing". I would cancel whole days of work, or even a whole week. It was an escape from life. But then I could not stop the escape. I know a lot of people say that you should not have regrets. But if I was truly honest, I do regret ever trying meth.

I do see the silver lining, which is through this process I sorted out more of my own baggage. It made me realize that focusing on external things to feel less insecure, or more happy, or less sad, or less stressed were all the wrong ways of going about things. It made me find a more centered approach.

I'm still finding my way through life, through recovery and through addiction. Maybe life isn't about winning or losing.

So I'll share a quote from Nietzsche that resonates with me -

“There is only a perspective seeing, only a perspective "knowing"; and the more affects we allow to speak about one thing, the more eyes, different eyes, we can use to observe one thing, the more complete will our "concept" of this thing, our "objectivity," be.”

PS: This forum has been a godsend. I have a recurring calendar invite to visit it every day. Sometimes I just read. But it keeps me on the path of recovery. I know once I stop for too long, all sorts of bad things happen.

Hi everyone,

Today we have another quote to help us reflect on lapses, relapses and pretty much applies to any sort of slip in life:

"I never lose, I either win or I learn" - Nelson Mandela

We have spoken about lapses and relapses becoming a learning curve in the recovery journey and this quote summarises that concept beautifully.

What are your thoughts? Does it resonate with you? @PnorkelPW @ScorpionPW @initae89 @Lubly @Freedom Finders @johnno @mylesduffy @weary_heart_restless_soul @PhoenixBlack @Bunnycode @Betterme1

[Peace Dove]

Hi @initae89,

How is your week going?

I truly enjoy reading each of your posts, you are so spot in your reflections and show a deep self-awareness.

You got me thinking, sometimes it's similar to asking which came first: the egg or the chicken?, the addiction or life's baggage? At the end of the day, as you pointed out, the silver lining of this process is that you have been looking into both and over time understanding more the interaction between them. You will reap what you are sowing. One day at a time, one step at a time.

Great quote from Nietzsche!!! Thank you for sharing.

PS: It's great to know you are finding the forums helpful. Keep up the good fight!

[initae89]

@Peace Dove Week is going good...

I just got back from a pottery class, which I am enjoying immensely. I'm slowly making small talk with my other classmates. It really takes me so long to warm up.

I;m also really enjoying being away from social media.

And I've been watching a HUGE amount of television. It's a much better way to get away from work.

[Peace Dove]

@Peace Dove Week is going good...

I just got back from a pottery class, which I am enjoying immensely. I'm slowly making small talk with my other classmates. It really takes me so long to warm up.

I;m also really enjoying being away from social media.

And I've been watching a HUGE amount of television. It's a much better way to get away from work.

That's great to hear @initae89! I'm really glad for you. On your own time but you're getting there, so well done!

Fantastic! Sometimes we forget that mental health "dieting" is also about the information we consume such a social media.

Amazing, sounds like you're trying out different strategies to relax and sussing out what works best and not. Good job!