My Fort Recovery

In June of 1794, over 1000 Indians attacked a small fort in the Northwest Territory (now Ohio) engaging less than 300 Americans led by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. Their point of defense was a makeshift defensive structure named Fort Recovery. It was built over the same ground where a few years earlier over 700 American soldiers had died in what could easily be described as a massacre. This time however, the wooden timbers of their ad-hoc wilderness fortress provided a place of safety in which the soldiers could rely upon their training and mutual support to repel the enemy marauders; Fort Recovery held and became a turning point in history described by some as the opening of the West.

I have my own Fort Recovery, and it's called a routine. General Wayne, considered an early adopter of “basic training”, drilled his troops so they would react in a proper manner in the heat of battle while protected by the walls of Fort Recovery. In a similar sense, my routines provide a defensive structure of normalcy that serve as a shield and grounding influence when life events get messy.

Click on "Read More" to see why routines are my friend...

Grocery shopping on the weekend, shaving in the morning, and making sure I kiss my wife and pet the cats before I shove off for work in the mornings are just a few of the routines I practice. They provide a structure to my life that bolster my defenses when things happen that are out of the ordinary. Where as many would see the structure as limiting, I see it as providing a stable base for me to explore new things in life. Much like Fort Recovery served as a frontier outpost which settlers and soldiers could retreat in times of danger, my routines provide a sense of security that allow me to venture beyond my normal surroundings and stability in times of trouble.

This week has been rather tumultuous. My wife has been out of the country for over two weeks visiting her family and will remain abroad for more than another week. She had a close family member die almost as soon as she arrived. On this side of the world, I too lost a close family member and had to fly off to Charleston for a funeral. My brand new computer I built for the home office gave me the blue screen of death right before my flight leaving me wondering if I was going to have to sink more money into it. I had no time to see what was wrong with it, just had to "let it go" until I had time to investigate the problem. Throwing an extra wrench into the works, even though I have not been seeking a new position, I was approached by a company with a rather nice job offer.

In my days of active addiction, I would have used these events both good and bad in a rationalization that revolved around me taking a drink "to make sense of things". I would have justified a bottle of vodka by saying I needed to bring order to my world and slow things down so I could regain control. Of course this would have been a steaming load of bull, a typical example of my cursed "thinking like an alcoholic".

Now I shave. I cut grass. I blog. Anything that is productive, positive, or at least benign.

I am not a psychologist, so I care not to waste anytime musing over the reasons why routines have this grounding effect on me. I am not worried that it is an obsessive compulsive trait or that I am in need and require this structure in my life. I am much too busy enjoying the benefits of practicing these routines. It works for me and I have seen it work for others, thats all the justification I need. No, this isn't the sole key to a healthy recovery, but for me it sure has been a vital part.