Gratitude.

"When I’m suffering too much, when I have to change the way I feel right now, I find that gratitude works for me the same way drugs did. Gratitude puts everything in perspective. Gratitude makes things right. It’s easy enough for me to forget where I came from or justify some feeling of entitlement or jump into what seems to be a bottomless well of self loathing and self pity. In those times remembering the things I am grateful for and expressing that gratitude to those around me and to my Higher Power has never failed to place me back in the presence of the serenity and grace which I have come to rely on to keep me sober."

-from Methed Up

I thought this post was a really interesting, honest look at the power of gratitude in our lives in recovery. One characteristic of the addictive personality I've learned about is a tendency to be self-absorbed and obsessed with feelings. This tendency is something I struggle with in myself, but it's damned near pathological in my husband. When he is having a bad day, it is consuming. Everything has to stop so that he can rant and feel sorry for himself. If he is sick or otherwise in physical pain, he is unable to do anything except feel sorry for himself. It's as if he isn't able to see past the moment he's in, which often leads to using.

The suggestion of remembering all the things you have in your life to be grateful for is really wise. There are some posts that I find when I'm reading recovery stuff that make me so glad I found them...they're like shortcuts on my own life trip. That's real wisdom...