Hello again, its me Daniel Blankenship. Blogger time baby.... I hope this inspires you in some way to be a better person. I also hope this inspires you to find greater peace, joy , and happiness in your life, and to stay living free of harmfull addictions. If you are living in addiction and reading this I hope your desires to change grow stronger and you decide today take the necessary action steps to change. If you would like you can always private message me via email danielisatruesoldier@aol.com I would love to hear from you!!! Please like and share my fb page BE A TRUE SOLDIER IN GOD'S ARMY. You can also follow me on twitter @beatruesoldier
I am still in school to be a Substance Abuse Counselor. As part of that schooloing we are required to do a 300 hour clinical inside of a treaetment facility. I chose to do mine inside the Texas Prison system at a program called SAFPP which is a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Program. It is at the Estelle unit in Huntsville ,Texas. This is a special needs therapudic community type program that last 9 months. There are approximately 200 guys in this program that range from ages 18 all the way to over 80 years old!!! It is quite amazing to wittness the tranformation that takes place in these peoples lives as they go through this program. I took some notes while I was there and today I have decided to share some of these notes. I wrote words of wisdom down that can help us in our daily lives addicted or not, as well as things pertaining to addiction recovery. I wrote things down that relate to addiction recovery that stood out to me. Some of these notes might seem random, but I hope they inspire you today!
YOU CANNOT HELP MEN PERMANENTLY BY DOING FOR THEM WHAT THEY COULD AND SHOULD DO FOR THEMSELVES....
---A man's actions won't change until his thinking does.
---When we exercise patience instead of instant gratification we enjoy the things that we achieve and work for much much more.
---Alcohol is a drug--it can and will kill, steal, and destroy your life--alcohol kills people everyday.
---Destiny is not a matter of chance, Its a matter of choice.
---Character is the sum of those those qualities which make a man a good man and a woman a good woman.
---Choose humility over pride.
---One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesnt pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself (Lucille Ball)
---Fill you time with good and you wont have time to do bad...
---Fail to plan, plan to fail
--- Figure out what your core beliefs are, develop strong values,standards, and get your behavior in harmony with your beliefs.
---BE ALL YOU CAN BE IN YOUR RECOVERY
---Learn from your mistakes.
---Your attitude will make or break you.
---I was sad I had no shoes until I saw a man with no feet.
---Stay thankful for the small things in life, some of the small things clients said they were thankful for now that they are sober are: birds, trees, flowers, clouds, breath, pillows, second chance at life, sobriety, family, health, pillows, food, time, opportunity.
---Find someone to encourage everyday.
---Their is a real power in loving one another, having compassion, and in treating others the way you would want to be treated.
---Dont throw your future away, life is short, dont throw your life away.
---Attitude is everything.
---The greatest discovery of this generation is that a human being can alter their life by altering their attitude (William James)
---Drugs lead to prison or death. As Addicts we have three choices we can choose to stay in addiction and suffer death or prison or we can CHOOSE TO RECOVER.
---Take the first step in faith. You dont have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step(Martin Luther King).
---Drugs deceive! First drugs thrill-then drugs kill!(Leola Hoekstra)
---Commit to do the next right thing.
---At first the "high" was good and fun then it turned into fear and terror in my mind, I became paranoid and miserable.
---We asked the clients, "What does recovery mean to you?" These are some of the answers we got: Recovery is a personal thing. Recovery means having a family,being happy,being a good father and husband. Recovery means growth. Recovery is a lifestyle. Recovery is the way I have to live in order to have a life. Recovery is acheiving my goals and taking it one day at a time. Recovery is replacing bad habbits with good habits. Recovery is learning to appreciate and enjoy the little things that life has to offer. Recovery is filling your life with so much good that you dont have time for the bad.
---Living in your addiction is living in prison. The biggest prison I have been in is in my own mind
---Be willing to do whatever it takes to heal and change.
---In your recovery, be that "little engine that could".
---I never had a problem that once I drank or used drugs the problem got better.
--- 3 major keys to recovery are Honesty, open mindedness & willingness
---Effort is very important in recovery and a little bit of effort goes a long way.
---Drugs turn you into a slave.
---We gotta chase after recovery like we chased after the drug...without ceasing!
----"Rock Bottom" is the foundation upon which I built my life...
----Some of the greatest battles we fight are fought inside the silient chambers of our own minds (Ezra T Benson)
I hope this blog post has inspired and helped you in some way. Remember that recovery and loving life is about learning to appreciate and enjoy the little things life has to offer such as food, family, friends, music, freedom. breath, sobriety, water, hope, love and happiness to name a few. I know that we can use the adversity in our lives as stepping stones to success. I know that recovery from addiction is possible because I am living proof and if I can do it than so can you. I know that God lives and that He loves us ALL. I know that as we humble ourselves and turn to Jesus Christ for strength and power He will restore us to complete spiritual health. I know in my life sobriety has brought an inner peace and an inner happiness that is far better than any high that a controlled substance provides. I know that YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Life is what you make it, so learn to accept the things you cannot change and to change the things you can. Your attitude is everything! So as always my motto is ....BE ALL YOU CAN BE AS A TRUE SOLDIER IN GODS ARMY....STAY TRUE...STAY STRONG...STAY POSITIVE....STAY SOBER...LOVE LIFE !!!
