The Language of Letting Go

Spontaneity and Fun

Practice being spontaneous. Practice having fun.

The joy of recovery is that we finally get to experiment. We get to learn new behaviors, and we don't have to do them perfectly. We only need to find a way that works for us. We even have fun experimenting, learning what we like, and how to do what we like.

Many of us have gotten into a rut with rigidity, martyrdom, and deprivation. One of the "normal" experiences many of us have been deprived of is having fun. Another one is being spontaneous. We may not have the foggiest notion what we would like to do for fun. And we may hold ourselves in check so tightly that we wouldn't allow ourselves to try something fun anyway.

We can let ourselves go a little now and then. We can loosen up a bit. We don't have to be so stiff and rigid, so frightened about being who we are. Take some risks. Try some new activities. What would we like to do? What might we enjoy doing? Then, take another risk. Pick out a movie we'd like to see; call a friend, and invite him or her to go along. If that person says no, try someone else, or try again another time.

Decide to try something, and then go through with it. Go once. Go twice. Practice having fun until fun becomes fun.

Today, I will do something just for fun. I will practice having fun until I actually enjoy it. 

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

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As compulsive overeaters, we tend to take ourselves very seriously. We're serious about food; eating it, preparing it, thinking about it, shopping for it, watching TV shows about it.........in general, devoting our entire LIFE to it.  That leaves little room for fun. When the only 'fun' we experience is with regard to food, we are living a very narrow lifestyle.   When we aren't eating, we are busy judging others, placing expectations on everyONE and everyTHING, and worrying. COE is an all consuming disease, and one that strips us of the ability or the willingness to have fun or to be spontaneous.  Before we decide to DO something entertaining, we must first determine whether our drug(s) of choice will be plentiful enough to warrant the event.

It's time to let go a little. It's time to start living a full life, without the burden of addiction weighing down our every decision. That's what recovery means: agreeing to LIVE.

For today, I will try something new and actually go through with doing it! I will step OUT of my comfort zone and INTO the throes of Recovery, instead of wallowing in self-pity and addiction.

For today, I do not 'need' excess food to have fun.