The Daily Llama, by Staci DesRault, brings you short, one-word meditations and a corresponding quote plus a reflection for your complete wool-being (#seewhatwedidthere?) for Monday, July 31st – Friday, August 4th, 2023.
MONDAY, JULY 31st
WORD OF THE DAY: UNCOMPROMISING
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
MEDITATE ON THIS:
Being obstinate is a transferable skill. At one point, we may have guarded the road to our destruction with a fierce and uncompromising will. This same stubbornness can be used to protect our recovery if we allow ourselves to reprioritize what we value.
In what areas of your life are you uncompromising? Does that stance nurture your recovery or endanger it?
TUESDAY, AUGUST 1st
WORD OF THE DAILY: STEADFAST
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
MEDITATE ON THIS:
Helen Keller lost both her sight and hearing after an illness at 19 months old. Think about that for a moment. How vulnerable of an experience to be thrown into silence and darkness at an age when one is meant to begin exploring the world and developing social connections with others. She would exist in this silence and darkness for more than five years before her first teacher, Anne Sullivan, came along and began to teach her the skills she would use to communicate and connect with others.
Helen Keller would later become a staunch advocate for people with disabilities, an author, a teacher, a lecturer, and a political activist. Her influence would change the lives of millions throughout history. But to overcome the enormous hurdles life had thrown her way, she needed a teacher with a steadfast heart who wouldn’t give up on her. One person’s firm determination can change the course of history.
Being steadfast in our recovery may bring us some personal rewards in our lifetime. But when our steadfastness can change someone else’s life, we have the power to change the world.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2nd
WORD OF THE DAY: UNBENDING
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
MEDITATE ON THIS:
The human body can be pushed to accomplish incredible feats of strength, endurance, and grace. The amount of mental resolve and physical training it takes to become an Olympic athlete is (for most, anyway) unfathomable. One must have an unbending will to succeed.
A resolute mindset fixed upon a goal is an unstoppable force.
Most of us will not become Olympic athletes merely because our genetic design will not allow it. But we don’t need to be professional athletes to exercise and set fitness goals. We don’t need to be the next Picasso or Van Gogh to create art. Additionally, we don’t need to be perfect to be loved, and we don’t need to have fame or money to be successful.
We just need to be resolute about who we are in our recovery.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3rd
WORD OF THE DAY: IMPERVIOUS
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
MEDITATE ON THIS:
The word “impervious” means “not to allow passage or penetration,” in its most literal sense. Thinking about this meaning, it is hard not to recall the image of Gandalf facing off with the Balrog, shouting, “You cannot pass!” Or even the seemingly impenetrable Iron Man suit.
“Good thoughts are an impervious armor,” today’s quote tells us. Not only are we protected from making errors or harsh judgments against ourselves, but others benefit because we are less likely to rush into judgment against them. Right thinking keeps us grounded, and thinking positively tethers us and makes it harder for us to harm ourselves first and others second.
The primary goal in the field of behavior-based therapies (CBT, DBT, REBT) is to create change in the way we think and behave. Fundamental to this philosophy of change is restructuring our core beliefs to be more rational, realistic, balanced, and self-loving. Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational-Emotive Behavioral Therapy, coined the term “stinking thinking” to describe the tendency to engage in thoughts and behaviors that no longer serve us. We learn to reframe the way we perceive and interpret what is happening around us, and we do this by identifying and changing negative core beliefs (a.k.a. cognitive distortions, thinking errors, etc.).
In other words, if our thinking is working right, we have a better chance of choosing how to behave rather than simply reacting to our triggers impulsively. When we can choose how to behave, we have freedom.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 4TH
WORD OF THE DAY: FIRM
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
MEDITATE ON THIS:
If you are not meeting any resistance in your life, it is probably because you are not working toward change. Resistance is a sign that you’re trying to get somewhere and make something happen. It is a protective instinct that arises when the brain senses that change is happening before it has time to evaluate whether that change is good or bad. The resistance can come within you, but it can also come from others. Resistance is neither good nor bad and is only part of nature’s security response team.
Try not to judge or react to the resistance at first. Notice it and observe that its job is to protect. Identify what it wants to protect. Sometimes it is merely our egos. But other times, it protects our core needs or values.
Resistance is simply our body’s alert system. Our job is to tell our alert system to rise, resist change, or stand down and allow change.
Suppose the resistance is coming from outside of us. In that case, our job is to discern whether our community’s alert system is trying to protect the status quo or serves as a collective wisdom to protect us from ourselves.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. QUIT-LIT is our curated list of addiction and recovery book reviews. From addiction and recovery memoirs to fiction and self-help, we believe all Sober Curators should be well-read. You can also find us on Goodreads here.
What’s on your nightstand? We want to hear about what you’re reading right now and the addiction and recovery books you can’t live without. Email us at thesobercurator@gmail.com
Sometimes life gets hard. Resources are available.
Resources Are Available
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.
