The Secret to Recovery? It Has Nothing To Do Luck

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Welcome to AAC Thrive. My name's Mike Diamond and this is episode seven.

So there's a thing that always we're going to talk about

lucky to be here and we're also going to jump into gratitude

and growth in recovery. Now a lot of people talk about luck

and they feel that luck is, you know, random or accidental.

But what I have found over the years is that especially in recovery

is that growth doesn't happen by chance or one lucky shot.

Okay, it happens if we courageous and we're committed

and if we're really connecting with others.

So I want you to think about that for a second, okay?

And when you think about luck, because they always say,

there's a famous saying and I love it, the preparation meets opportunity

which gives us luck. So if we don't have the courage and commitment

to prepare, then we can never ever ever be lucky.

And what people think as well in recovery is that any life is that

they look at someone's life and they say, well, that person got lucky.

And they always tell people this, you can get a lucky break, right?

But that doesn't give you a lucky life or a lucky career.

And it definitely, definitely doesn't work in recovery.

Because there is no luck in recovery.

You know, you may get lucky to have a great sponsor or to walk into

a really amazing meeting or you may be lucky if someone like me

or a skilled professional or an interventionist walks into your life and

you know, meet you where you're at and helps you back on your path.

But that's only one moment.

It's what you do after that that creates an incredible life, okay?

And I always tell people, there is no white light experience to this recovery process.

There is no such thing as, you know, this feeling, the key

to getting long-term sobriety and I'll be coming on 20 years is

to get up every day and do the basics.

You know, so I want you to think about this.

When you think about your recovery journey,

what's one thing you feel fortunate or grateful for today, right?

And that's how you really build gratitude.

It's sitting in the moment and not comparing your life or what you should have had or could have

had or think you ought to had.

It's sitting here now and saying, okay, look around your house and think about

the little things because I remember in my early recovery,

you know, I'd watch a lot of people, you know, just get angry that they lost so many things.

And then for me, I gained everything back and more because everything I got back in my recovery,

I was appreciative and I really, really was happy to be sober, right?

So again, let's think about luck and preparation.

So what does that mean? That means we have to take daily action, okay?

And when we take that daily action, it's important to understand

that sometimes we're going to need support and things aren't going to go as planned.

So we have to be resilient. We have to sit in things and work through them slowly.

Now, I feel very lucky that I met great mentors and they helped me grow and they helped me stretch

and that makes me very grateful. And if I'm grateful every day,

it really does strengthen my sobriety because it allows me to really focus on what I'm building daily,

not what I've lost when I was using, okay? Here's another important thing which will help you

read the gratitude. Celebrate the small wins and really be proud of yourself and acknowledge

the process and the progress you're making daily, okay? Because it's a great saying, right?

We can't control the information coming in, but we can control how it's used to respond.

So this may sound crazy. When something doesn't go as plans, I don't let it affect my identity.

I just look at as information, okay? Because I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow,

but I know if I show up and I'm grounded, things will fall into place, okay?

So ask yourself these, right? When have you felt lucky or grateful in your recovery journey?

Now, if you've gone through a rough time and you feel like, you know,

everything's cading in on you and you feel a little hopeless and helpless,

dip at that and try to find a little thing that you can be grateful for, right?

And what it has another thing, what opportunities in your recovery, in your recovery,

had given you, you know, things that you didn't expect. Just think about that. And you have to

think about it because sometimes we can gloss over things because we have these

pre-fixed ideas of how everything should go. And I always say, remove the should,

the orts and the musts in your life. Instead of saying things should go this way, say,

you know, it would be nice if things went this way. Things ought to have gone the way I wanted,

right? Or must go the way I've planned because if you get stuck in that, you'll never be grateful,

right? And here's another important thing, right? If we are grateful in the moment,

it allows us to stay very grounded when we're facing setbacks and really, really hard days,

okay? But I should go through this month. I want you to think of this. Think of

groves and think of how you can grow. What's something you could do to improve your life? And it

doesn't have to be these massive things. There is no such thing as a big win. You have to

enjoy the small wins and the small wins compound daily, okay? So it's stuff like this. When I wake

up every morning, I'm just grateful, I'm up. And if I don't feel good, I move and I journal

and I always say movement is medicine and it creates momentum, right? So really sit in those feelings

if you're feeling ungrateful. And here's a little tip that I use. Start to appreciate things

wherever you're at with the resources you have. And then you'll start being grateful, okay? So

it's important to appreciate because if you don't appreciate, you will never, ever, ever, ever

see any light in your life, okay? So now, just think about this. Being lucky in recovery

isn't about chance. It's about choice, okay? And like I said, preparation and action. So every

meeting we attend, every honest conversation we have, every time we push through a hard day,

it's showing us how strong we are and resilient. And remember, you may start your journey

you know, by chance because someone intervened like myself or you just did it because you wanted

to get people off your back or maybe you did it because you're like, oh, I'll just do it because

it'll save my marriage. But if you stay committed and connected to people and you do the work,

what will happen is over time you will grow and improve. And I guarantee you this, your life

will get better. So, in closing, think about this. What is one thing about your recovery

that you refuse to take for granted? And this month, focus on that, all right? And as I said,

just take your time, have courage to be yourself and take it day by day. And over time, if you can

ride out the waves, you'll make it through the storm. This has been another episode of IAC Thrive.

Go out, be yourself, be your best self because you're enough and have a blessed day.

Thank you for listening to AAC Thrive with Mike and Friends, where hope lives and recovery

continues. If you or someone you know is struggling with sobriety or need support,

call us anytime at 866-9620-984.