Towards Recovery - reflections and daily invitations
By Towards Recovery
Towards Recovery - reflections and daily invitations Feb 01, 2022
Day 30 - Be Humble
It's easy when we are put up on a pedestal to get carried away with ourselves. We're people in long-term recovery from addiction like so many others in recovery around the world, we have supporters and there are forums available to us, so let's share that space and platforms with others where we can.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil
Day 29 - Release
The invitation today is to release your voice, talk to someone and be heard.
By talking, we get to hear our own thoughts out loud, which can help loosen their grip and heaviness. Sharing with someone also helps us to see how they experience what's going on for them and allows us to have compassion, which changes our awareness to appreciate that we're not alone in our struggles.
Read by: Rebecca Whitlock
Day 28 - Discern
Whether you have a plan, a faith or something else to help you guide your way, we make the best choices we can with the information that we're able to see and hear. Life and recovery is a series of decisions that we do our best to navigate. The wonderful thing is, we're not in it alone and our connections can help and support us.
The invitation today is to discern. When it comes to recovery, practice makes progress (not perfection).
Read by: Justin Whitlock.
Day 27 - Remember who you are, and that you're OK
At Towards Recovery one of our core values is to choose to see people as 'OK' and to work with strengths. We know people are often fragile and we also accept that it's OK to not feel OK from time to time. So the invitation for today is to be like Simba - remember who you are, and that you're OK.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil
Day 26 - Be quiet and listen
Taking time to be quiet and letting the thoughts come can take a while. It really does take time for all the other noise to disappear before we can really hear ourselves. So today, we invite you to take some time for yourself to be quiet and listen - to others and to yourself. You may be surprised at what you hear...
Read by: Michelle Djemil
Day 25 - Read and reflect
Today's invitation is to read and reflect on a topic that you might not have read about before. We've chosen 'the new normal' being faced by children of alcohol dependents and the trauma from the resulting behaviours due to use / overuse of alcohol and indeed drugs as well.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil
Article: The New Normal, NACOA, Alcohol Change
Day 24 - Have some fun
We can spend a lot of time organising, meeting deadlines, checking items off our to-do lists, thinking, plannning and doing - but every now and then we need to let the child in us have a bit of a play. Taking a moment to indulge the child in us, to take a break from the routine or from the seriousness of our jobs or lives in general can be just what we need at the moment. Fun can help people consider and action change, so our invitation today is to engage with the child in you in a positive way, smile, have a bit of fun.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil
Day 23 - Embrace your life and be encouraged
We're often presented with binary options - it's either this way or that but we often have to live in the grey bits... today's invitation is a double one - to embrace your life and to be encouraged - you can do both, it doesn't have to be either / or.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil
Day 22 - Balance
Todays invitation is to remember to balance. Not meaning the work / life balance we've all heard of, but being balanced. Looking after all your needs as you go through your day and listening to what your mood may be trying to tell you.
Read by: Justin Whitlock
Day 21 - Celebrate every part of you
We've often talked about the practice of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold, built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. We explore the Kintsugi principle and invite you to celebrate every part of you, cracks n'all.
Read by: Justin Whitlock
Day 20 - Be Empowered
We can decide our own direction, and these decisions and be changed. We can change. We can set a new course. We achieve change, not merely by insight into our old patterns of behaviour, but also actively deciding to change those patterns and the changes we make can be real and lasting. The invitation today is to be empowered.
Day 19 - Think
Grey Matter - People's brains are incredible, your brain is incredible! This extraordinary organ is actually responsible for every aspect of our shared humanit. We could not breathe, play, love or remember without our brain and yet we take it for granted every moment of every day, seemingly unaware that it operates at a speed which is difficult to comprehend.
The invitation today is to think, everyone has the capacity to do it and when we do, we can discover that it's possible for tomorrow to be different.
Read by: Justin Whitlock
Day 18 - OK'ness
We all have a set of rules that we consciously or unconsciously live by, make sense of the world through and arrive at our understanding. We talk about 'being OK' or choosing to see others as 'OK'. This isn't a throw away comment for us, it is fundamental to the way we want to be respectful, authentic and relational when we connect with people.
Today's invitation is to value OK'ness - you are OK and you have value.
Read by: Justin Whitlock, Towards Recovery
Day 17 - Listen
There are obvious things that we can do to give ourselves the best chance of finding that restful night - no caffeine after a certain point, turn off screens, read some devotions... doing what we can to build good habits and outcomes can allow us to reflect on what works and fits.
The invitation today is to listen and become fluent in you, your thoughts, behaviour and body - it might just be the conversation you need.
Read by: Justin Whitlock, Towards Recovery
Day 16 - Taking a new path
Taking inspiration from the 'Autobiography in Five Short Chapters' by Portia Nelson. "There's a Hole in My Sidewalk".
The invitation for today is to enjoy - the moment, your thoughts, your memories and continue to choose the direction from 'hole' to 'whole'.
Read by: Justin Whitlock, Towards Recovery
Day 15 - Look out for opportunities
The invitation today is to be on the look out for the opportunity, in whatever crisis crops up and seek appropriate help. Where help is required, be mindful that we can sometimes be the help that others need, whether that's a text, a call, being a sounding board or offering a knowing or affimring look.
Read by: Michelle Djemil
Day 14 - Be Grateful
Take a moment today to find a few things you are grateful for. Even if things are not great for you today, being grateful for something may help things turn around, or atleast not get worse. Our recovery is hard won and easily lost and being grateful helps build the kind of resilience that means we can maintain that recovery.
Finally, be someone others can be grateful for knowing and encountering today.
Read by Michelle Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 13 - We have a choice
We can spend out time looking at the difference we see around us, feeling inadeuqate that others seem to be doing better than me, developing at a greater rate and looking better... Those thoughts just serve to trap us in our own head, a mental isolation that leads to physical isolation that goes nowhere good.
Today's invitation is to realise that we have a choice.
Read by: Michelle Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 12 - Aim for something
Today's invitation is to aim for something. Set a goal, orient your self towards it and begin to move in that direction.
Read by: Michelle Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 11 - Find your voice and speak your truth
Today's invitation is to find your voice and speak your truth. Whether that's to your friends, family and / or work colleagues and most importantly to yourself. However the day goes, take a moment to breathe and just to be, even just for a few moments.
Read by: Michelle Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 10 - Simply Be
Still the noise of the judge in your head and experience whatever is going on around you or in you without judging it and without feeling you have to DO something about it. Our invitation today is to simply 'be'. Experience life without judgement. Get out of automatic mode and into manual for a brief while.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 9 - Savour
The invitation for today it to 'Savour'. Savour our memories, people and moments that have bene part of our yesterday and today, our journey so far. We are alive today, so lets explore the miracle of living fully. I wonder what or who will revisit you if you choose to pause, drop the narratives of the day and give them space to appear.
Read by Huseyin Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 8 - Connect
Have you ever had the experience of someone calling or turning up just at the right time?
The invitation today is to connect. You never know what kind of day that person who just pops into your mind has had and the power of being remembered. Who knows what meaningful friendships that will have a profound impact on our lives are growing right now?
Read by: Huseyin Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 7 - Intend and contribute
The invitation today is to Intend and Contribute. What if we spoke up to build up instead of tearing down? The best world we can make is the one we are positively contributing to. We all have a unique life experience that is rich in learning... you have something to say and contribute.
In the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn... "wherever you go, there you are."
Let's make a loud noise and be seen and heard.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 6 - Give yourself a break
Give yourself a nod of gratitude for showing up today, for allowing an opportunity to expand your expeience. You already know what you know, so anytime we give ourselves permission to show up and be open to possibilities is worth a moment of recognition that you're taking this time for you.
The invitation today is to begin to 'Soften'. What could it meaan for you today to bring your awareness to the act of softening? What if we could get the same amount of benefit , or even more with working 'at it' a little bit differently? Practice 'softening' in the good and hard times, give yourself a break and be the best friend you can to yourself.
Read by: Huseyin Djemil, Towards Recovery
Day 5 - A New Vista
The invitation today is to Surrender. Surrender your understanding, your cleverness, your feelings... because you never know what new possibilities you would open yourself up to. We don't have all the answers, so why do we pretend to know best most of the time? There's less pressure when we put down the role of expert, shrug our shoulders and say 'I don't know', with a little bit of humility maybe we'll find some inspiration.
We like the quote from Pema Chodron 'You are the sky. Everything else is the weather'.
Read by: Jasmine Plowright, Towards Recovery
Day 4 - Getting going
What is motivation about? Why do I get motivated to do some things and not others? Why do I act in a way which I know isn't going to take me to where I say I want to go?
Today's invitation is to consider what 'activates' you to initiate? What do you notice that needs to be present to turn a distant hope into a tangible and resolute change? What makes something stick for you?
Read by: Jasmine Plowright, Towards Recovery
Day 3 - Awaken
The invitation for today is to consider how you Awaken. How do you intend to invite all of you to participate in a day of fullness, potency and potential? You never know, an investment in the beginnings of your day just might allow you to hear what new things are waiting and wanting to awaken in you as you live your journey.
Read by: Jasmine Plowright, Towards Recovery
Day 2 - Intend
There will always be something that needs doing, someone who needs our attention and many invitations to take on activity that belong to others, all at the expense of our own time and ultimately well-being. Attending to our mental and physical health and well-being isn't a passive experience and very often we have to remind ourselves that we are important, we have value, we're not human doings but human beings and that you are the most important resource you have.
Todays invitation is to 'intend' or to live with intention means choosing how to live, purposefully.
Read by: Jasmine Plowright, Towards Recovery
Day 1 - Recognise
Beginnings can bring with it both excitement and anxiety. We speak about killing time, making time, spending time, wasting time... but as some point recently, I had started to see time as a thief which produces impatience and dissatisfaction with our here and now, our present.
Today's invitation is to simple recognise. Are your thoughts, feelings and behaviours being kind to you? What is your body telling you? Take some time for yourself today and just recognise where you're at, without judgement or criticism... just notice. It's a beginning.
Read by Jasmine Plowright, Towards Recovery
Intro - a happy accident
Moments of inspiration come at the most unexpected times, when we're not thinking about anything particular and can take us on an unexpected journey if we say yes to doing something new...
Introducing our audiobook of reflections and daily invitations by Towards Recovery.
Read by Jasmine Plowright.