This past weekend, I made the decision to sit down and “review” my own progress in recovery. I began to think about the barriers I have faced and overcome, and those I still struggle with. I know from my past experience in recovery that it is very easy to get “stuck”. When this happens, sobriety […]
One important thing I have learned since coming back into recovery is that humility has made me much more open-minded. I knew that I had to open to new ideas and advice from others or my road to recovery would not progress – in fact, I could become “stuck.” I am not saying that today […]
I stay sober because I do not want to lose the time I spend with my wife, my kids, my grandkids and my friends. I stay sober because I want to walk down the main streets of the city with my head held high. I stay sober because I want to be invited to family […]
Those of us who come to recovery must do so because of our own choice and not be because we are forced into it. If we are an unwilling participant in treatment or other recovery programs, chances are we won’t be motivated to maintain our sobriety and any experience and advice shared by others in […]
I believe it is important for those of us in recovery to stop and look back at how far we have come – whether our recovery journey began yesterday, last month or last year. For me, my journey began about a year ago. The best decision I made was to return to treatment and try […]
Coming back into recovery last year, I honestly believed that the idea of letting go of the past was going to be impossible. I carried so much guilt and shame for what I had done, the unhappiness I had caused myself and others, it seemed to be a herculean task to get past it. My […]
For many years, I have lived my life as if my perceptions about people, places and things were real. I have learned in recovery that, in fact, they are not. Having suffered from low self-esteem and self-confidence, I believed what my mind was telling me. Things like “you can’t”, “you are not smart enough” or […]
Those of us in recovery often hear the expression “it’s a selfish program”, but if you belong to a 12-step program, you know that The Promises say “self-seeking will slip away”. What is the difference? In my opinion, we say our recovery program is selfish because our first priority is our sobriety. We may turn […]
A lot of people, in an out of recovery, don’t deal well with change. I know I’m certainly one of them. I knew that coming back into recovery meant making a lot of changes in my life. I had to adapt to a simpler lifestyle that is focused on my recovery. Many of us struggle […]
I have come to realize lately that a phrase we hear a lot in recovery, “keep it simple” is not as easy as it sounds. Life in or out of recovery can easily get complicated and its up to me to simplify things as much as I can. No one ever promised me that life […]