Written by Freedom Fighter
Say yes to the…. RECOVERY JOURNEY
I love reading the posts on MTC website so instead of waiting for a new one to appear I thought.. why not write something. I’m flicking through my recovery journal whilst watching ‘say yes to the dress’ so hence the idea for the title!
I love the word ‘journey’, probably due to the fact that my main passion/hobby has been travelling since I first got on a plane to Manchester aged thirteen and I can relate the journey to freedom, to my wonderful past travel experiences.
I have created my own recovery journey plan to try and fit all the wonderful learnings (that have come with choosing recovery) into one compact plan. I’ve realised of late that condition is a strong force and I need constant reminding and practice to arrive at freedom, so here it is:
Recovery Journey Plan
Destination: Freedom of course
Freedom travel agents: Marie, Andrea, Jacqueline, fellow freedom fighters, supportive family/friends
Checklist:
Learn the language– no “cants, wont’s, it’s hard, I don’t know” etc. Change to “ this is challenging.. I wonder? how can I make this easier? Is this a freedom choice? is this a red thought or a green thought?”
Keep a daily journey collecting 5 gratitude’s and 5 credits and an extra column to collect learnings, all helps to become more fluent in the language. As with any language there is the listening, written and speaking, so all areas must be worked on.. think back to the leaving cert! Not everyone will speak in freedom so we must work on filtering out conditioned language. Practice, practice, practice and more practice, as with any new skill the only way we get better is practice and repetition.
Freedom Insurance– Collect freedom moments so when things get tough we have freedom funds to fall back on. Some examples could include: a few minutes spent in the present moment, green thoughts, using senses to slow down the thinking, self-care, doing something just because you wanted to, not allowing fear to take over, enjoying food without mind interference, mind body connection, getting that feeling of true love for yourself like we do when we are with loved ones.. we are a loved one! Put up the boundaries– nobody, or situation, is going to back track on my journey.
Packing– Protect your happiness and filter out all unhelpful baggage. Sizeism, negative self -talk, value of thinness, guilt, shame, analysing, calorie counting, controlling behaviours, reacting to unhelpful emotions etc.
Must haves in our freedom bag: hope, gentleness, spending time in nature- its what we are all a part of after all, elegant thinking, allowing humanity, acceptance, no judgement, listening to our gut instinct, lightness, simplicity, creative resources/utensils such as a paintbrush, camera for creative hobbies.
Get on the freedom plane– daily actions.. ‘just do it’, daily journaling, attending session and groups, practice freedom choices, slow down, see that every day is a gift and for living, allow all the pieces of the puzzle to come together and you will become a work of jigsaw art!
Arrival: Now that you have arrived….Step off the plane and walk around the land of freedom. The land of self- worth, appreciating authenticity, knowing yourself, spiritual connection to how special you are and knowing there will only ever be one you in the world.
And if your flight is delayed.. take action, remind yourself of the checklist and use your imagination.. hold on to hope and look into what it will be like when you touch down on freedom land!
