What? Me Sober?

In some places, traps are made by cutting a hole in a coconut just big enough for a monkey’s hand, and then tying it to a tree with a banana inside. The monkey reaches in and grabs the banana, but gets stuck because it can’t get its hand out without letting go of the banana. All it needs to do is let go. Instead, it ends up in a stew. Monkeys are stubborn.Sometimes we cling to things — arguments,…

Do the hard thing. It’s probably the right thing.~ Travis McGee

I think it’s really a part of the human condition that you’ve got to have some fun. You’ve got to get away from whatever you do to make a living or other parts of life that stress you out. I try to make it at least 50/50 fun to work and so far it’s worked out.” ~ Jimmy Buffett

What is relapse? It's when you pick up a drink or a drug, or resume another addictive behavior -- right? Well, let's think about that...

by Michele O. Webb BSW, CAP What is relapse? It’s when you pick up a drink or a drug, or resume another addictive behavior — right? Well, let’s think about that. What does the dictionary say? Relapse: To suffer deterioration after a period of improvement, or A deterioration in health after a temporary improvement. These definitions seems to fit our needs, but let’s look at them carefully.…

Even though alcohol, other drugs, and/or behavior may have been causing us misery and chaos for a very long time, for most of us their mood-altering effects were just about the only reliable things our lives. When we first get clean and sober, we find that the missing drugs and their rituals leave a big empty place. The emotion, time and effort we put into maintaining our addiction is no longer…

The Seventh Step is when we determine whether our desire to let go of our misery is greater than our fear of confronting it.

You are made up of elements that were formed in the hearts of stars billions of years ago. But before you start feeling exceptional, remember that everything else is too.

Note: this was sent to me in an email, and I have attempted to find its origin on the Web. Unable to find any reference to the title, I assume that it is anonymous and, thus, in the public domain. If this is not the case, and I am so notified, I will remove it immediately. IT STARTED out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then — just to loosen up. Inevitably, though, one…

I just glanced at a program I have running in the system tray that keeps me abreast of system resources, and noticed that I only had 625 MB of RAM left available. I was rebooting Firefox to free up some more when I realized that (a.) there was still six-tenths of a gigabyte unused, and (b.) that unused RAM was precisely 1,250 times as much as I had in my first computer. How quickly we get used to…

No matter the space, water always makes itself fit. It can overcome fire. Over time, it carves out huge swaths of land, and it never stops flowing. Be patient, like water.

One of the common issues facing us in early recovery is the lack of trust and respect from others in our lives, whether family, friends or employers. While some — especially family — are often willing to accept our new, sober selves and welcome us back into the fold, there will always be some who find themselves unable to trust, and others who will continue to think of us as they did when we were…

“I believe in intuition and inspiration. At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason why.” Do you know who said that? It was none other than Albert Einstein.  “Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect.” Any guesses? It was Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs. Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs both attributed their extraordinary success to this personality trait of…

There is nothing mystical about hunches, intuition, and trusting your gut. We are all the sum total of millions–billions–of experiences, and we remember most of them on some level. We are well-equipped to let our subconscious minds help us out with problems, armed as they are with that wealth of experience. But we often–if not usually–force ourselves to ignore those gut feelings, the feeling…

I heard another newcomer at a meeting complaining about how she’d had God shoved down her throat by her parents, and she wasn’t having any part of this Higher Power stuff, blah, blah, blah.  I find this sort of thing tedious, to put it lightly, having listened to and read about it frequently over the years.  Even when I was claiming to be an atheist I thought it was shallow and ill-considered.…

The other night I was at a meeting where the chair asked for a topic, and one of our more “intellectual” members raised a hand and commenced a five-minute dissertation on how they didn’t understand why we say in the rooms that it takes an addict to really understand an addict, why they shouldn’t just be able to speak openly about their addiction to any friend and get useful feedback, etc. They…

Ethics, in its most basic sense, is what you are willing to do, what you won’t do, and any situations where those answers may change.

I was just browsing Instagram and found the following: “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” I see this kind thing all too frequently. It’s indicative of the lack of attention we give to the things we post and the messages we send. I’m sure that the woman who posted it saw the aphorism someplace and thought “Oh, inspiring,” then posted it without…