Journal: 3 Simple Tips to Improve Your Writing
The act of writing in a journal makes me feel better. Whether I am in the midst of a hard time in my life or experiencing a moment of unbridled joy, journaling makes my world seem more real and manageable. As the saying goes, “Life has a way of making other plans”. While I would […]
Was I Really an Alcoholic?
Leave the Door Cracked a Little Bit This year marks my 27th year of continual sobriety. On September 9th, I will celebrate not drinking since I was 27. I will have NOT had a drink for as long as I had been drinking, but was I really an alcoholic? In the past 27 years, I […]
If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes
At the ODAAT group in Plano, Texas the noon meeting had several crusty old retired guys (who were about my current age!) that laid out the same ol’ wisdom every time they shared. We newcomers laughed that even though the topic changes, the words remained the same. We thought about having an AA Saying Bingo […]
HALT! Don’t Go There!
It should go without saying that a person in sobriety should not get Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired (HALT), but that is where we find ourselves quite often. One (or all) of these can lead to a loss of serenity, or worse… a relapse into our addiction. Why HALT? As an alcoholic, self-awareness was never […]
Sober Travel is Awesome
NOTE: This is my own personal experience with sober travel. This may not work for your program of recovery. Please discuss any and all areas of this topic with your sponsor! When I was newly sober, I asked my sponsor, a Dublin-born Irishman, if I was ever going to be able to travel again. After […]
Sober? Have a Drink Tomorrow!
I am going to let you in on a secret: Not all days I have been sober have been happy, fun and life-affirming. In sobriety, I have been through the deaths of family and friends, relationship breakup, loss of a job, toxic work environments and so much more! It wasn’t all bad though! My sober […]
Step 4: Searching and Fearless
People approach Step 4 with either fear or hope; no one is on the fence about doing a personal inventory. That said, the step lays the foundation for a solid journey to recovery. Coming right after Step 3 that has us letting go of our recovery and turning it over to our higher power, it […]
Family: Permission to Leave
While the old saying, “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family” is absolutely true, I don’t have to keep them close. I can directly link my serenity to the people in my life. While I don’t rely on them to keep me sober, they do play a large part in my […]
3rd Step: Turning My Will and My Life Over Was Easy
Many of my fellow addicts and alcoholics come to the 3rd step and think there is something insurmountable about it. How can THEY, all-powerful as they are, turn their will and life over to a force greater than themselves? Surely, this could never happen! They are in complete control over every aspect of their daily lives!
Step 2: Came to Believe
I’ll be the first to tell you that there is no ‘old white dude in the sky’ that controls us like puppets on a string. I am not a religious person at all, so when it comes to the second step, I make no pronouncements about when, if or why ‘God’ acts among us.