Keep hope alive…

“Hope is not a dream, but a way of making dreams become reality.” – Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens Yesterday I was speaking with a fellow that is clean and sober now for two years.   He has a similar story he went to prison young and started his education in prison.  He like me, had no … Read more

Don’t take yourself too damn seriously…

“The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative, the second is disastrous.” – Margot Fonteyn In the Twelve and Twelve on page 148 rule number 62 is offered, “Don’t take yourself too damn seriously.”  I remember I … Read more

Stay busy, but focused…

“Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.” – Lady Bird Johnson I remember early on in my journey people said depression can’t hit a moving target!  For the most part I believe that is true.  In early recovery we need to keep our feet moving.  Stay busy with positive activities, yet … Read more

Ride the wave, but…

The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave. Thomas Jefferson Freedom from the bondage of addiction takes work.  Working through the good times as well as the not so good times.  The waters are rough at times for all of us recovering people are not excluded from this act of nature.  We learn … Read more

Kind Words

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa If you have read our Blog in the past you may have heard of the “ABC’s of the Recovered Life”.  The letter “C” stands for “Cheerlead Others”.  There is no doubt that Mother Teresa made a profound impact … Read more

EnthUUUUsiasm

“A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm” – Charles Schwab ♥ Enthusiasm, the word is derived from the Greek “entheos” meaning, “God Within” .  Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that God is in charge and not me.  I make plans and work hard to “figure” it all … Read more

Is everybody happy?

“Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.”  – Colette When I read this quote two more came to mind.  Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise!  Then the song started to play in my head by Public Image Limited, Johnny Lydon, “Is everybody happy“?  Yesterday I was meeting with … Read more

To love and to be loved…

“There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved” – George Sand ♥ When I am teaching I always ask, “who wants to be happy”?  I have never had anyone say, “no not me, I love misery and pain.  I do not want to go there with the happiness”!  Yet once in … Read more

The choice is ours…

Success is the intentional, pre-meditated use of choice and decision. Unless you choose – with certainty – what it is you want, you accept table scraps by default! Gary Ryan Blair We all have choices in life we can choose where to live, how to live, what to do, how to do it and on…  … Read more