Last year, I wrote about 13 lessons I learned in recovery in 13 years. This year, I want to highlight 14 words that matter tremendously to me.
Authenticity: It takes only a few minutes of being authentic with someone to leave a lifelong impression. Yes, lifelong impression.
Consistency: Doing things in a disciplined, consistent manner creates a dependability that our world and its people long for. Be consistent and watch your world and those around you respond with fascinating results.
Excellence: The quality of our actions and behaviors can separate us from the rest, both in positive and negative ways. Choose wisely.
Faith: Establishing a belief in something greater than myself was what saved me early on and continues to save me years later. Whatever you believe, believe something.
Family: There is no more important group of people than family, whether biological or otherwise. Treating them as such is something I take seriously and absolutely love doing.
Fun: All the recovery in the world doesn’t mean anything if life isn’t fun. Find the things that are fun and do them often – they’ll relieve the stress that’s inevitable in life.
Generosity: The greatest value of all, for me, is generosity. Giving to the world changed my life. And in turn, my life changed the world. That’s a cycle worth repeating.
Gratitude: When I can appreciate the things I have in life, I am far less likely to seek other “things.” Gratitude lists are non-negotiable for me. Period.
Growth: I really believe if I’m not growing, I’m headed for trouble. And besides, there’s no point in escaping hell to live a status quo kind of life.
Health: Finding a life of recovery is only the baseline. Finding health in other dimensions is what opens the door for the impossible to become possible.
Love: My addiction hid any bits of love I ever experienced. Finding recovery means finding love. Then, it’s a matter of expressing that love – we can’t stop short of that and expect the full experience.
Purpose: I walked around for years without having any kind of purpose. Establishing purpose has pushed me further than ever imagined and has woken me up most days of my recovery.
Relationships: My relationships were few and far between prior to recovery. Now, building and maintaining relationships is both a responsibility and privilege for me. My greatest joys come from experiences with my people.
Serenity: One of the primary drivers that had me seeking substances was a lack of serenity, or of alignment in who I could have been and who I was being. Serenity isn’t something to be sought – it’s there, underneath all the chaos life can bring. Seek nothingness and there you’ll find serenity.
Not limited to recovery, these 14 words are important for all of us. I hope as you progress through this holiday season you can find value in some or all of them!
Many blessings, Jason
Love your take in serenity!
And also - thanks for including “fun”! So many leaders seem to think that you are being frivolous and lack tennacity, if you express the critical importance of “fun”. But I think it shows you are secure and not conditioned by others’ opinions of you!