"Strive for adequacy and you will achieve perfection. Strive for perfection and you will never be adequate."

An honest view of the world from the perspective of a recovering anorexic and self-harmer.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Step 2

I believe in a higher power. As a pagan/wiccan I am hesitant to define "higher power" broadly as I believe that there is a greater power out there but that it can be different for different people. I know it's very confusing. To me, my higher power takes the form of a woman. I lean more toward the wiccan definitions of the Goddess as Maiden, Mother and Crone. Without Her I know that I would not be here. My higher power has gotten me through the past 6 years of my life. Though I have come very close to killing myself, inadvertently and purposefully, She has kept me alive through thick and thin to use the cliche. She has seen me through and has brought sanity, safety, comfort, love and life back to my life.

Step 1

I am powerless over ED and self-harm. For years both have ruled my life. I have been in recovery from both for three years and it has taken three years for me to be able to confidently and firmly believe this. I still struggle with both. I have found that when I have wrestled one to the ground the other becomes much stronger and takes over. I admit that I need help and I have gotten help but it is not over. I have gone on now for one or two years thinking that I do not need help anymore but I see now that I do. Life throws things at me, and at everyone I know, and I just cannot work through it alone. I have never really been alone but I know now that I need to ask for help and accept it when it is offered. My life was a mess when I first went into treatment in 2008 and it remained that way until the end of 2008 after three inpatient ED treatments and two psychiatric unit stays. I am working to take back my life and become happy again.

Trying Something New

The 12 Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous

  • Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable(you can replace alcohol with addiction, gambling ect...)
  • Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
  • Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
  • Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
  • Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
  • Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
  • Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
  • Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
  • Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
  • Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
  • Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
  • Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

Meal Plan 06/13/11

Breakfast:
Wheaties
Soy Milk
Cream
1 Fat, 1 Dairy, 1 Starch
Lunch:
2 scrambled eggs
Toast w/butter
Yogurt w/granola
2 Protein, 2 Starch, 2 Fat
Snack:
Strawberries
Crackers and Smoked Salmon
Juice
2 Fruit, 1 Starch, 1 Protein
Dinner:
Pork Chop
Chocolate Soy Milk
Rice
Salad w/dressing
Broccoli
2 Starch, 3 Protein, 1 Dairy Protein, 1 Fat, 2 Vegetable
Total: 6 Protein, 3 Dairy Protein, 2 Vegetable, 2 Fruit, 5 Fat, 6 Starch

Sunday, June 12, 2011

A New Start

I have been in recovery from an Eating Disorder and self-harm for three years now. I have had my ups and downs since then. I recently went back to my first and third treatment center for the Reunion and while I was there I came up with the idea for this blog. I have written on different places before but I want to become more dedicated to my recovery and use this as one of my tools. This is meant to be a place where I can reflect and work towards a better life. Looking in a mirror provides a new view, a different way of looking at things and that is what this is.