Enjoying the life I lead

22 days sober:

I had another close call yesterday. I jumped on the internet and watched some videos...I guess I could reset my sobriety because of it, but I also know that it didn't effect me like other times when I have reset my sobriety. I'm not sure why, but I am going to think a lot more on it.

Anyway, to the title and subject of my post. (Almost wrote poast...interesting way to write it and I'm not quite sure what a poast would be...maybe a post made by an addict?) How can I enjoy the life I live? Here are a couple ways I do this*.

• Write a list of 3 things I am grateful for each night. - When I do this I realize what great things I do have in my life. I usually don't stop at 3 because once I start (unless I am having an unbelievably hard day) the things that are wonderful in my life just tend to pour into my mind. So fast that it is hard to finish the thoughts of the original 3 things I am grateful for.
• Do things I find joy in. - This is one of the more important things I do. Finding things I enjoy and then doing them - listening to music, playing the violin (something I need to start doing again), drawing, writing, talking with friends, reading a good novel, watching a movie - brings a certain enjoyment into my life that is hard to get in any other way.
• Try to learn at least one new thing a day. - I try to read books that educate me, and through reading these book I am expanding my knowledge every day. Now, the days I don't read and learn usually are the days I come to the end of feeling unfulfilled. There are a lot of things that contribute to that feeling but not learning something or not trying to improve what I know definitely contributes to feeling unfulfilled.
• Express my gratitude to those around me. - This is the fastest way I know of to turn my mood around. If I can change the way I think about and look at the people around me...see them as someone contributing to my life instead of taking away from it, I can consequently change my attitude. I end up being happier because of this.
• Read and study The Book of Mormon. - This is my main indicator of whether or not my day is going to go well. If I read and study out of The Book of Mormon in the morning of my day then my day invariably ends up better than it would have been otherwise. In other words, the days I do read and study The Book of Mormon are better than the days I don't.

Now, this is not a fool-proof list. There are days I have that are just bad. I have to accept that. Sometimes that can be very uncomfortable, but that is just life!

If you get a chance, watch the video on this link. Warning, it is on youtube so if one of your bottom lines is to not get on youtube alone then I'd suggest going and getting someone to watch with you.

  Bring a smile to your face

Well, that is my experience today and this is my daily check-in. I pray I can get another 24 hours of recovery!

-Grateful and Hopeful