My friend, Steve, turned me onto an excellent recovery book, which has changed the way I approach many aspects of my recovery. The text gives the following advice: "Recovery doesn't take much, it just takes all you got."
This quote describes my exact experience. When I entered the recovery world, I did not have much to offer. It took everything I had to stay away from my drug foods. I had to stop making my own decisions. When I did, it led me back to my old behaviors over and over again. I realized I had to try to go about doing things differently, which in turn caused me slowly to start thinking differently. I could not think my way into right acting; I had to act my way into right thinking. I had to remove Dave's brain from the equation because my thinking could not be trusted. I had a broken brain! It was indeed not working properly; it was at least not working to my benefit, that was clear!
While I did not have much to offer, I also did not have much to lose. The repercussions for trying something different were at a low cost. The worst-case scenario would have been to return to the way I was living before recovery, which was all I had known anyway. When I began to look at it this way, it became much easier to become willing.
If you have been around me for any length of time or have read my posts, you know how often I refer to and speak about willingness. In my eyes, it is indispensable. My recovery cannot survive without it, and for that reason, I cannot survive without it. If I am not willing to do everything it takes to stay clean and abstinent, then I am on the fringe of heading back out into the world of active sugar/food addiction.
So just remember, "It doesn't take much, just all you got!"
Best regards, Dave