“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi One of the the first things I learned while I was living in Panama Central America is that people there repair stuff and do not throw it away. If your blender breaks you take it … Read more
Although the symptoms of abuse vary somewhat according to the specific substance and frequency of being abused, there are often behaviors that can be noticed by those close to the individual such as family and friends. One of the keys to successful treatment is early detection, the sooner the better. That being said, here is … Read more
There are three kinds of lies, Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics! Mark Twain. Whether I am speaking with a salesman, a parent of an addict or alcoholic, the individual seeking help or a professional seeking info on our program they all ask the same question, “What is your success rate”? Researchers, the media and our … Read more
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “I Can’t” is dis-empowering. I lived in “I Can’t” for a very long time. It was not until I began to live in “I Can” that my life began to change. But … Read more
Through a chain of events… that at the time were not very pleasant… my husband and I found ourselves sitting in a young attorney’s office. I mean who in their right mind calls an attorney unless you are facing legal problems? I thought I had “randomly” picked Joe’s name out of hundreds of attorneys in … Read more
Since no one is perfect, it follows that all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection. Yet they were accomplished, somehow, all the same.” – Lois McMaster Bujold This marks my thirtieth year in the pursuit of happiness, recovery. As I reflect back at the highs and lows I am amazed at how I … Read more
My friend Dennis has had a real challenge in life. He is an extremely intelligent and talented young man. Yet addiction and his mental health challenges got in the way of his productivity and life. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately he ended up in prison before he ended up in the cemetery. His parents are two … Read more
Throughout our lives, leading up to our active addiction, we chose to wallow in all of the negativism that our lives held; worshiping our own self pity. Today, if we truly desire recovery, we must choose to rejoice in the positives, regardless of how loud the negatives are sounding to us. Insanity is doing the … Read more
“Hope is a light diet, but very stimulating.” – Honoré de Balzac Faith, hope, and love. The three emotional needs we all have. Without these needs being met, dysfunction abounds. For those of us that choose alcohol or other mind altering drugs to fill this gap, real life recovery is the answer. Positive meaningful recovery … Read more
“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Horace Lorimer Life is worth enjoying every minute of every day. Of course that does not mean that we will not face adversity. In fact quite the opposite. We will be confronted with challenges however … Read more