Bad
things happen. It’s an unfortunate reality in this world and we have all had
our share of bad experiences. At times bad things happen for no good reason at
all. Wrong place, wrong time. You can be doing the right thing and the wrong
things can happen.
With
that depressing thought out of the way, one positive takeaway from negative
experiences is that in all life situations, good or bad, there are life lessons
that can be learned and used again for the future. We can make progress in our
lives in spite of negative circumstances and situations by insightfully drawing
out these life lessons and using these lessons in our own process of healing
and recovery. As we heal, we can grow
even stronger similar to the way a broken bone fuses back together even
stronger than it was before it was broken.
Also,
let’s not forget that in life unexpected good things happen sometimes too,
and lessons can be learned from these experiences as well. This group should
not be just about the bad things. Instead mix and match by sharing about
anything where a life lesson was learned in both good times and in bad.
Directions: Take turns picking a
life area topic from the list, then share a personal story about a situation
related to that life area. When done with your story, try to identify one Life
Lesson learned from the experience; especially something that has been
useful in your life since the event. Feel free to discuss and process stories
further as a group especially if anyone else in the group has had a similar
experience and come to a similar conclusion. It may be a good idea for someone in
the group (or the counselor) to record a list of the life lessons shared for further
group discussion at the end of the exercise (optional)
Example:
Topic
selected from the list: Good Time: Recovery Milestone
Story
(Example) – “Just last month I reached 90 days sober which I have done many
times before, but this time is different because I learned the Life Lesson
to finally change people, places, and things. I am doing so much better since I
started listening to some of the suggestions my counselors and peers have made
instead of being stubborn
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Good Times |
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Winning |
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Achievement |
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Proud Family Moment |
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Got the job (or promotion) |
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Rags to Riches
(Financial gain) |
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Once in a Lifetime
Opportunity |
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Recovery Milestone |
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Figured it Out
(Solved a life problem) |
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Successful completion
(Finished a challenge) |
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Right Place, Right
Time |
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The Right Decision
Paid Off |
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I Made the Moment
Count |
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I Followed the Right
Advice |
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Hard Work Paid Off |
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I Walked the Walk |
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I Saw the Trouble and
Avoided It |
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The Right Attitude
Paid Off |
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I Did Not Give Up |
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Come up with your own
“Good Time” and Lesson...
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Process
Questions
– When the group is done with the exercise, discuss the following:
Why
is it important to try to learn something from every situation?
How
have you specifically changed your current behaviors based on some of these
lessons that you have learned in the past?
How
have you learned to prepare for the future based on your past experiences?
Have
you learned to improve your attitude and outlook based on (or in spite of) your
past experiences? If so, how?
What
specifically are you doing to cope and heal from some of the negative
experiences you have had?
How
can you increase your chances for more good things to happen for you in your
future?
What
life lessons that were discussed today stood out to you as something you want
to work on more?
Finally,
put a plan into words: What is at least one or two things you are going to do
differently to enhance your life and your recovery going forward today?
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