Yellow Light Y2 - Intentionally putting oneself at Place of Risk ~ Caution

Some might ask how can being "somewhere" be a Yellow Light?  I mean, it's just a "place" right?

Well, for some with an addiction, just being somewhere can be the trigger.  Even though a "place" doesn't speak to you to convince you to "act out", it can actually trigger the voice in your mind that tells you what to do.

Follow me on this.  For those who suffer from alcoholism, going to a bar for happy hour may not be the smartest of decisions or going to a friends party where you know there will be alcohol.  Because at this "place" you have access to the actual thing that you are trying to break away from.  Or for those suffering from a pornography addiction, perhaps going to Hooters will trigger the feeling inside that you so crave leading to "acting out".  What about those with a shopping addiction?  Should going to the mall be on your agenda?

Now these are not hard and in stone rules.  Of course not.  Each person must decide for themselves if being at a certain place is dangerous to the undoing of their sobriety.  However, sometimes we just don't know.  Or perhaps it is so early in the recovery process that we know these "places" are triggers.

So, I would think logic would say to STAY AWAY!  You have worked so hard to finally admit your problem and start the hard work of beating this addiction, why would you place yourself in harms way?

The reason it is considered a Y2 light, "Intentionally putting oneself at a Place of Risk" is so that you are accountable for putting yourself there.  Remember, Yellow Lights are not acting out lights..these are just the flags that say..Stop and Slow Down! Consider the Implications!  What could this lead to?

Because entering a yellow light requires adding an explanation of the situation it is helpful so that your accountability partner can see the situation.  It is also helpful to begin to see patterns.  When searching over a months time, see how many yellow lights you had.  Are they all on a certain day of the week?  Do they always occur when ...

Sometimes it really is obvious - at least most often for an outsider.  But not always.  And with data at your fingertips, you can't deny the actions of your life.

So PLEASE don't be afraid to report a yellow.  Be accountable to someone for it and perhaps come up with plans on how to change why the yellow even happened so it doesn't turn into a red light in the future.


Don't have recoveryBox yet?  Make the SMALL investment and begin to see your habits change.
To download, click here.  For more information, visit the recoveryBox app website (you can always download it from there if you decide).

What Are You Grateful for Today?

Each day gives us new opportunities to be grateful? Do you take time to reflect on them? Staying sober isn't just about staying away from the bottle or not watching porn. It's about shifting the way  you think.  

Take time to give it a little thought. Then count it as a green light. Thinking about our blessings helps us focus on the gifts in our lives - and that is a great habit to get into!!

www.recoveryboxapp.com

Customize your Sobriety Date View with a Picture of a Loved One

Personalize your "Sobriety Date" view with a picture of those who mean the most to you. Each time you see this view, be motivated to continue on your journey to freedom from your addiction. 

Your view will change based on the picture selected as well as which device you are viewing it on. 

You can continue to set a "Recovery Goal" on the banner as well as return this view back to the original recoveryBox view by canceling out your picture. 


Want more information about recoveryBox, the iPhone App for Addiction recovery? Visit our site for specifics about how recoveryBox can help you on your recovery journey.

Want to download it now? Visit the recoveryBox page in the Apple Store.

Be Motivated!!

Daily Devotions Directly from recoveryBox

New to recoveryBox, the iOS app for Addiction Recovery are daily devotions.  They can be accessed from the blog, or directly from within the app. These are short to be read quickly in the morning with a small thought to get your day going - focused in the right direction.  It's just a small way to encourage our app users - and to remember you are supported.

www.recoveryboxapp.com

Addiction Recovery iOS App

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Download recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Do You have to Give Up Your Old Friends - Random Resource ThuRsday

Random Resource ThuRsday brings to your the question "Do you have to stop seeing all your old friends in order to recover?"

This comes from a Great Blog I found called Changing Lives Foundation.

Do you have to stop seeing all your old friends in order to recover?

April 24, 2012 in AA Related, Al-Anon Related. . ., Ask Joe, Relapse, Why Don't they Just Quit,Why Don't They Just Quit? Book Excerpts by jherzanek | 2 comments

ASK JOE:
Old friends and recovery:

Q: Do you have to stop seeing all your old friends
in order to recover?

A. It depends

When I was first getting off alcohol and drugs, many of my old friends
were just like me. I knew that being around drugs and being around
people using them was a bad idea. Exposing myself to the wrong influences
would have been a set-up for relapse. It wasn’t easy to let go of
some of my longstanding relationships. At the same time, though, I was
meeting new people who were also in recovery. I quickly learned that
my new lifestyle and old friends were kind of like oil and water—they
just didn’t mix.


After several weeks of sobriety, I started to see these old relationships
in a different light. I tried to talk to some of my old friends about recovery.
A few of them actually quit using. Others began to avoid me. I stayed
busy concentrating on not using. It was a little depressing, in a way. I
wanted so much to help them change, but many just weren’t interested.

This is a difficult time for the recovering person. There is a sort of
lag-time between leaving old unhealthy relationships and developing
new and better ones. It doesn’t happen overnight—but it will happen.

Trust the process and trust God to provide. For myself, I knew what was
at stake. I had to do this or soon return to the old life. The void in my
social life was going to be filled one way or another. This is one more reason
why support groups are important.

Recovery means making many changes,
and some are more difficult than others.

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recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Preparing For Change and the Mistakes We Make

The Parallels of Recovery and New Features 

As we are working on the new features of recoveryBox (features that our users have asked us to implement that would aid in their recovery), it's interesting to note that as a team we have come up with observations that you might find interesting and how it parallels recovery.

In fact, these are lessons that really apply to just about anything!

• If it's something that I am asking for - perhaps others can benefit from it as well.  I think that's actually the point of support groups too -- if I'm going through it, then perhaps others have my same experiences and perhaps I can gain from their journey.

• It takes courage! Not everyone thinks about asking for features..rather many jump to criticism. But what I tell anyone who writes to me...this app is truly the first of it's kind and it's based on the input from many different counselors and behavior modification systems. And so, there is a chance that what you need might not be a part of them app, or perhaps it's there but you just don't know how to use it. So sending an email is a great way to ask for help. And like the road to recovery, instead of getting down on how the system doesn't always work, ask for help!  There are so many willing to help you out.

• We all make mistakes!!  Currently I am working on fixing bugs that either I have found in recoveryBox or that have been brought to my attention. Being the person that I am, I hate to make mistakes..not because of pride but rather because I'm afraid to let others down.  And during my own journey I have learned that I am NOT perfect, I have to give myself room to be human and make mistakes. Where we grow as a person, is when we learn from our mistakes.

• Preparation is KEY! As part of a new recoveryBox version, I am mapping out app the places that I have to make changes. This one feature specifically, while a seemingly small request really touches on the heart of the app and therefore we need to make a lot of changes. In doing so, we have to look at our existing code, plan for the changes we need to make and then test test test!  We want to be prepared so that when we make a change we can support it well.  In recovery, we must prepare for the changes we need to make. Trying to give up drinking while running with the same crowd won't do it. Trying to give up viewing pornography while not making plans to protect your eyes is foolish. If we want to be successful, we must step back, analyze the situation and then make plans.

• We don't always get what we want! Making changes to recoveryBox based on user requests is exciting because it means there is a huge opportunity to help others. But, there are times when my team has to make difficult decisions such as "How many people have requested this feature?", "How much time will this take to develop?", "Is this truly the best direction for recoveryBox?", "What other demands do I see coming down the road from Apple that I need to implement in order to keep recoveryBox in the store?", "When/if is the right time to try and create the same app in android land?" These really are difficult decisions to make and unfortunately since my team is REALLY small, we can't always satisfy every request.  And in recovery, we don't always get what we want either. Not every relationship is going to be reconciled because of past baggage.  But what we need to remember is - "DID I TRY MY BEST?" and if the answer is yes - then we must learn to accept and move on.

If you haven't already tried recoveryBox, perhaps it's a tool that can get you going in the right direction toward your sobriety. And hopefully the new version will be in the Apple store within a few weeks more!

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Download recoveryBox Addiction Recovery App - Your Complete Accountability Sobriety Toolbox

Acting Out - Yes the Red Lights

UPDATE: please know that you can create your own red lights to really tailor recoveryBox to your needs.  Be supported!!

First, I must say I hope that you never have to record a Red Light because it does mean that you have broken your sobriety.  BUT, please don't be overly hard on yourself.  If you do indeed need to record one then do so and move on.  We all make mistakes but the difference is if we learn from them.

How Red Lights work in recoveryBox.

1. Each addiction will have a different Set of Red Lights.  They are specific to your addiction.  Until this point, all Green Lights and Yellow Lights have been the same for all addictions.  recoveryBox wants to make this specific for your addiction.
2. Record a reason why you acted out.
3. Consider entering any triggers that you can think of that might help understand why you acted out.  Even if you just can't make sense of it, enter the triggers anyway.
4. Send the text/email to your accountability partner.  Please don't skip this just because you have entered a red light.  This is the most critical time that you need to honest.  It might leave you feeling vulnerable but you are not alone.  This is where you are going to get the support you need through a sponsor or accountability partner.
5. recoveryBox WILL automatically adjust your sobriety date (if you are using that module) based on the red light that you enter.  You don't need to worry about entering it in 2 different places.  

Please don't feel ashamed and wallow in a relapse.  Know it happens, pick yourself up and learn from the mistake.  It's what you do with it that counts.

Below you will see different Red Light scenarios based on 3 different addiction types.  

Alcohol Addiction

Pornography Addiction

Eating Disorder Addiction

There are over 50 addictions to choose from in recoveryBox AND you can even choose multiple addictions at the same time if you need to.

Want to try out recoveryBox,

the iPhone app for addiction recovery, 

download it today.

Look for a New Version..Coming Soon

We've heard you and listened.

Coming Soon .. The ability to create your own Red Lights to customize an addiction that represents your personal needs.

And there might be a few more goodies too. Coming soon!!

Yesterday's daily devotion was a video from IamSecond.com. It featured Brian's life and his decision to give up his Meth addiction.  It is so powerful as are so many of the videos on the site that I thought I would share it as well here on my the app's main blog.

Here is a small video but to see/read more PLEASE visit the IamSecond.com site.

For daily devotions from recoveryBox, visit http://recoveryboxdevos.blogspot.com

Caution :: Yellow Light :: Y1 - Person of Risk

Today's post goes along with last Thursday about having to give up all our "friends" from before addiction recovery.  As the author wrote, the new life of recovery and the old friends turn out to be "like oil and water they just don't mix".

There is a way in recoveryBox to track that.  It's the Y1 Caution Light.  It's "Intentionally Put Self With Person of Risk".

There is something to note here..it's the word intentionally.  There are times in life when we bump into people from our life before addiction recovery and it's a coincidence (but ever notice that it's "awkward"?!?).

This is the situation where you purposely hung out with a person who was trouble.  Their ways are just not appropriate things that you would be doing to change your habits.  You know what I'm talking about.

You get the nervous feeling inside, your mind starts to ask questions of yourself about this person or the situation like 'should i be with her?' or 'what do i say is she asks to go party and get high.how do I get out of that?'.

Take this as a warning light!!  Oil and water don't mix!  Even if you did happen to be with such a person on purpose don't be afraid to record it in recoveryBox.  Your sponsor or accountability partner will want to know.  And because they have lived your life, they will not be upset.  This will give you the opportunity to see how your triggers and situations all came together so that you don't intentionally put yourself in that position again.  Recording it will allow the conversation to flow between you and your sponsor because it's all down in the app for both of you to see.

Be proud of yourself that you did not relapse.  Just like as with driving, it's just a warning that you could get yourself into trouble.  Just learn from it!

Download recoveryBox to get started on your road to Addiction Recovery.

Random Resource ThuRsday ~ A Holiday Survival Story

Ran across this holiday survival story and I thought many could probably relate. It's from Sober Living's Website and the link will bring you there (great website..check it out).  Or you can read it here.

No More Ruined Holidays by Chris S. 

by slbts — last modified Dec 16, 2009 09:50 AM

Filed Under: 

• clean and sober holidays

Those of us who have lived through addiction and recovered will enjoy this passage from our staff member who really remembers what it is like to be a slave to addiction during the holidays.

     How many times has it been heard, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” Or, “You better be on your best behavior.” Only to let too much go on and you are arguing with someone in front of relatives, the kids and/or friends. Your argument is probably over something that isn't very important anyway. It's probably even an argument over something you don’t remember the next day (until someone reminds you about it). Maybe there's even a push and shove that goes too far and ends up in the tree or on the dining table. Maybe your struggle spills out on the front yard where the neighbors can see you. Maybe someone is so mad or embarrassed that they leave before the festivities had began. Some are crying in the background and others are taking up sides.
     It doesn’t have to be Christmas, Thanksgiving or New Years’ eve. I remember having a Tequila Easter playing monopoly. Don’t know who won or if we finished the game. But, the phone call the next day let me know I was not in the best behavior mode.
         Many people get busted for DUI’s during the holidays. It must make a person feel special when called to come bail someone out of jail on that special occasion.
        What about the false promises made that it won’t happen this year. The playing of the victim -  that it "wasn’t my fault." And the best move of all:  getting too wasted to even show up. Then the excuse of, “I am not hurting anyone but myself.”

Giving the Best Gift of All    

    One of the best presents I’ve seen people give others is getting help before the holidays. Giving the family, friends and loved ones the greatest joy of all. Being clean and sober for holidays present and future. Being able to keep a promise that you will be there. Maybe not this year, but next.

Many people get busted for DUI’s during the holidays. It must make a person feel special when called to come bail someone out of jail on that special occasion.

     Some of us are too selfish to think of others during certain days of the year. Thinking it might not happen if we are not present. It will still happen whether we are there or not.
     The greatest present I’ve been able to give others’ was the giving of myself. Clean and Sober.

www.recoveryBoxApp.com - the iPhone app for Addiction Recovery