One of the major benefits of making our bed everyday is that our first task of the day is successful. We can exercise bringing our minds into a state of confidence in our own abilities. At the very least we have a made bed when we return home to sleep.

This also functions as a great way to flag to ourselves when we are "off the beam".  We are not very good at being aware of our internal states at all times, nor are we good at identifying when things merely feel bad and when we are truly entering crisis (and risking our recovery). This small act can be a warning sign that things are getting off track.

Doing pushups, going for a walk, doing yoga, stretching, or some other exercise early in the morning, sets our bodies up for success. A healthy body that is attuned to physical activity is one that is less inclined towards anxiety, stress and depression. 

This is also a great opportunity to set reasonable, meaningful goals for ourselves that can provide stability, a sense of discipline and tangible progress. Sometimes in recovery we feel as though we are not achieving as much as we would like. This is a way to ensure clear, visible and healthy victories, everyday. 

This is also a good warning system for looming crisis. Finding that 15 minutes becomes unavailable for physical health is a good indication that something deeper is wrong.

An example of this is visible on the Daily Reflections page. It does not need to look a certain way; however, setting up intentions can be a powerful way to keep ourselves on track. Human beings in general, and addicts, in particular, are not great at holding intentions. When we write them down, we give them live. When we practice orienting ourselves towards specific goals--like changing behaviour, changing thinking, regulating emotions, telling the truth, etc. We can more effectively practice being the people that we want to be.

Reviewing our day, evaluating our success or highlighting gratitude can be a useful tool to cap our day off. We are inclined towards the abstract and the negative, so bringing ourselves into the concrete and the positive can do wonders for our sense of self and our emotion, spiritual and mental well-being. 

It is important to be present in our lives. So much of our living is done on autopilot! Part of changing our character is becoming aware of the choices that we make and the behaviours that arise from our character (read: habits). In practicing bringing our consciousness into the present we can regain a sense of agency in our own lives and start to make choices about how we want to think, behave and act. This, in time, is how we can transform ourselves.

Be patient with yourself and remember that we don't need (or want) to be fully present to everything that happens at all times. We have limited energy and some stuff ought to be done without too much thought. It is about where. when, and why we focus our attention into the conrete and the now.

Food can be an interesting challenges for us. Especially in early recovery we often develop strange relationships to it. It can be a source of great pleasure, a way to avoid or numb, a locus for controlling behaviour and/or the subject of further disorder.

Taking the time to establish healthy routines around food (that aren't too rigid!) can be hugely liberating. Eating simple, unprocessed, well-sourced food with regularity can help mitigate physical highs and lows that can translate in to mental or emotional highs and lows. 

Finding out how food affects us can be a transformative experience. In active addiction we are often totally out of touch with our bodies or only aware of the damage we experience from use. As we become more aware of the subtleties of our physicality we can begin to assess and acknowledge how different foods effect us. 

It is important to eat for health and to eat for pleasure. As with all things, balance!

We have spent a long time as reactive machines. Learning to identify when an emotion is activated within our bodies can help us identify when we may be moving out of control and into reactivity. 

This is a life-long practice. Learning how certain emotions feel and how and when we can intervene and choose our behaviour is an important tool in being who we want to be.

Early on, stepping away from situations in which there is a compulsion to react, speak or blow-up can be effective. As we develop we learn to be aware of what kinds of behaviours or thoughts various emotions trigger and to be skeptical of our thinking when we have good reason to think it is being distorted.

The more intentional we are in our choices, especially those surrounding our emotions and our narratives, the freer we will be to move through life with meaning, purpose and success.

Community is not just a noun, it is a verb as well. We practice community by showing up and by being of service. We are social creatures and we need community to survive. In recovery we need particular kinds of community to thrive. Finding a recovery community -- be it a 12-Step group like Alcoholics Anonymous, CBT groups like Smart Recovery, or others -- is crucially important. For we get sick alone and we can only recover together. Practicing community means showing up, even when we may not want to. 

We are not limited to recovery communities. We can participate in all kinds of communites: sporting, religious, family, hobby, etc. The important thing in practicing community is finding ways to be of service. Those of us that used in community know that we can selfishly use communities, but meaningful membership requires service. 

Thus, finding and contributing to communities is essential to a healthy sustained recovery and a meaningful life.

The good life is a balanced life. We ought to hold ourselves to high standards and be gentle when we are struggling. Finding ways to hold ourselves accountable to the goals we set is a most. Rememebering that we will fail, falter and struggle is equally important. If we can find ways to be disciplined about those things which we can do with some consistency (like meditation, diet, exercise, honesty, etc) we will be better placed to face the bigger challenges when they arise.

The nice thing about recovering in community is that we can ask others to help us navigate this balance. We can ask if we are being too hard on ourselves and we can ask when maybe we are giving ourselves too much of a pass. We can even ask for help from others to hold us accountable in a healthy and productive way.

By developing discipline in when energy and resources are good, we can sustain ourselves in difficult times. When we practices gentleness with ourselves when we make small mistakes, are will be better able to handle the major issues that we all face from time to time.