MY FIVE–YEAR
RECOVERY PLANNER
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE,
ONE DAY AT A TIME
CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS
Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, addiction recovery, and behavioral health care, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and Web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, it seeks to impact the behavioral health care field with a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals, their families, and the general public.
For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.
Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, NV 89129
© 2010 by Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, NV
eISBN-13: 978-1936290-46-8
eISBN-10: 1-936290-46-4
All rights reserved. Published 2010. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
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Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3371 N Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
Cover design and interior by Sara Streifel, Think Creative Design
To the clients
and alumni
of Las Vegas
Recovery Center.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Planning Paradox of Twelve-Step Recovery
INTRODUCTION Dreams Call for Planning, Not for Controlling
CHAPTER 1 A Balancing Act: The Four Points of Balance
CHAPTER 2 Using the “Serenity Prayer” as a Resource
CHAPTER 4 My Mental Future
CHAPTER 5 My Emotional Future
CHAPTER 6 My Spiritual Future
CHAPTER 7 My Five Year Recovery Plan
The Planning Paradox of Twelve-Step Recovery
The foundation of twelve-step recovery is not to use “just for today, one day at a time.” Members arc encouraged to stay in the now and to avoid getting caught up in making plans. We arc taught to look back at—hut not dwell on—our past in order to clean up our messes and make amends, but we ate discouraged from making detailed plans for the future.. .aren’t we? Yes and no.
Recovery teaches us that although we are not in control of outcomes, we are in control of our actions. We have choices today; we can do the next right thing and allow our Higher Power to be in charge of the results, instead of trying to assert our will over people, places, and things that we were never in control of to begin with. So although we know today that we don’t control outcomes, we know that we control the things we do.
Our recovery programs teach us that our Higher Power will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, implying that there is a great deal we can and must do for ourselves. This five-year recovery planner will help you clarify and chart the steps you need to take in order to create the future you want. It will help you reach for your dreams, even if you’re not sure of what your dreams are right now.
We hope you enjoy playing in this simple little journal and take the steps needed to start (or continue) on the journey of a lifetime—your recovery.
The Editors of Central Recovery Press
Recovery gives each of us the opportunity to be co-creators, along with our Higher Power, of a new and bright future for ourselves and our families.
The exercises in this journal are intended to appeal to seekers of all types—whether you are a writer, a list-maker, a poet, a photographer, a scrapbooker, or a sketch artist. You don’t need to fill in every blank or complete every activity. This is YOUR five-year recovery planner, and the activities have been designed to appeal to your learning and growing style, no matter what it is.
Dreams Call for Planning, Not for Controlling
You may hear these words or a variation of them in twelve-step meetings: “If I had made a list of what I wanted from life when I first entered recovery, I’d have sold myself short.” When a person enters recovery, often all he or she wants is for the pain to stop, the obsession to quiet down, and the mess that has been made of life to be cleaned up. But once recovery has begun to take hold, and the recovering individual begins to work the steps with a sponsor, to be of service, and to attend meetings, the realization that there is more to life than just abstaining from active addiction begins to dawn. The possibility of living “a life beyond one’s wildest dreams” now seems to be more than just a distant prospect. It begins to seem more like reality.
Think of all that addiction has robbed from you—perhaps you have lost your family, your home, your possessions, and your hope, along with your self-respect and self-esteem. Relationships may be dead or dying; friendships that were once vital may seem all but impossible to revive. Money problems may be a looming threat. Yet, you see others in your recovery fellowship beginning to thrive. Since you now know the program of recovery that works for them works for you, perhaps you are allowing yourself to hope that you, too, can regain some of what you’ve lost and that you can rebuild a new and better life—and you can. But how?
Recovery teaches us to be grateful for what we have in our lives today, and no matter what, each of us can find something to be grateful for.
Making a five-year recovery