Humilty and an Open-Mind

I have been reading the daily reflections for about 20 years now, I do not remember when they printed it but it was about 20 or 21 years ago.  Prior to that I used the 24 hour a day.  Since I have waffled back and forth, but today the Kelly Foundation sends it to my … Read more

Happy, Joyous and Free

“Far away in the sunshine are my highest inspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.”  – Louisa May Alcott When I first got sober the term “Happy, Joyous and Free” would totally rub me the wrong way.  Here … Read more

Made a Decision

“Once the ‘what’ is decided, the ‘how’ always follows. We must not make the ‘how’ an excuse for not facing and accepting the ‘what.’” – Pearl S. Buck Many years ago,  I would hear folks share in a meeting that they “took their will back” usually this was in response to a recent relapse.  They were … Read more

Getting it Done

“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.” — Margaret Thatcher Over the years it has become a habit to reflect on my day.  Some days I sit and think … Read more

Happiness

“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” – Storm Jameson If I could sum up happiness in one sentence I would go with Storm’s definition.  Happiness is not a byproduct of things, although when we are deprived we repel happiness.  Happiness is … Read more

Enthusiasm

Each and every morning the first thing I do before I have my morning cup of coffee is do my prayer, meditation and prep for the day with “My Morning Mental Workout”. My attitude everyday will determine my success in the future.  Today I will walk, talk, act and believe like the person I wish … Read more

The Strangest Secret

We become what we think about.  Earl Nightingale. In 1998 I was 10 years abstinent from drugs and alcohol.  My Spiritual relationship, my family life, my recovery, my career, all seemed from the outside to be clicking!  Yet I continued to have an emptiness inside.  Don’t get me wrong it was not a depression or  … Read more

The Heart of a Champion

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.  – Eddie Rickenbacker The message of Real Life Recovery is to show average and ordinary people that they can build a life they are proud of and they can gain independence for themselves and their families.  If we have … Read more

The Power of a Positive Attitude

“A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.”  — Earl Nightingale Having a positive attitude takes commitment, a decision to do so and then practice.  Here are some suggestions to … Read more

Opportunity

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller In life I believe that true happiness, deep inner joy relies on our Spiritual condition.  In recovery our inner joy and recovery … Read more