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CRAFTING A LIFESTYLE THAT MAKES ADDICTION UNNECESSARY

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the power of self talk 1 The Power Of Self Talk

The Power Of Self Talk: 3 Voices To Discover Your True Sober Self

The Power Of Self Talk – It All Begins With A Pause Complainers. All of us. We frequently desire that which keeps us stuck. In my household, we define complaining as “staying the same.” It’s safe to say a lot of us ain’t moving! We … Read More

a grief observed summer 4 pain changes people

Pain Changes People: Discomfort, The Spirit’s Informant

Pain Changes People: For Better Or For Worse Anger, A Mighty Ally As a culture, we tend to equate anger with abuse, aggression, or immaturity; as if it is synonymous with either power and intrigue or lack of control and emotional instability. I throw up … Read More

Why Are We A Drinking Culture? The Answer & Its Unbelievable Source!

Am I the only one that cannot understand why our culture is infatuated with booze? It’s saturated with it. Consumed by it. We are defined by it; a true drinking culture. When the holiday season comes knocking, forget about it! In fact, the culture is … Read More

how to stop being indecisive 1 How To Stop Being Indecisive

How To Stop Being Indecisive (7 Ways To Make Up Your Damn Mind!)

How To Stop Being Indecisive? Just Do Something Already! Nothing is more destructive emotionally than the habit of indecision. It’s equivalent to living Step 0. You know, merely going round n’ round the merry-go-round of “other alternatives.” Never making actual decisions, just floating back and … Read More

The Qualities Of A Good Friend (3 Powerhouse Traits)

Before we leap to the qualities of a good friend, I have a few questions for you… Do you ever loathe socializing? You know, set dates with enthusiasm and then mentally die when the day arrives? Better yet, do you spend more time socializing through … Read More

Exposure And Response Prevention: Break The Avoidance-Cycle

Exposure And Response Prevention… Are you white-knuckling your way through sobriety? Do you want to get drunk but feel too embarrassed to share it? Do you think you know it all and think the advice of your peers is moronic and unhelpful? Well, my friend, … Read More

The Abstinence Myth: 5 Unexpected Principles

This is a great question and quite frankly there is probably no adequate answer. I’m sure you’re looking for a “yes” or a “no”…. But I’ll do you one better. How about a yes and a no. “The mind is its own place, and in … Read More

The AQAL Map: The Ultimate Instrument For Total Connection

The AQAL Map Meets Johann Hari I recently watched a Johann Hari Ted Talk. If any of you have read his material or listened to him speak, you know he’s quite a controversial journalist. He tends to deliver more a less a pitch for a … Read More

The Twelve Steps

3 Reasons The Irrationality Of Alcoholics Anonymous Is Laughable

Why does addiction recovery have a mysterious air about it? Science can perform freaking heart transplants and more or less control behavior by manipulating chemical impulses in the brain – yet millions die each year from addiction. We can use an ultrasound machine and leverage … Read More

Step 12 AA: Smash The Delusion!

“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Step 12 AA Step 12 Mandate #1: Carry This Message You know what grinds my gears? When you ask … Read More

AA Step 11: First Fruits Of Emotional Stability

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”-AA Step 11 I struggled to find whose words best conveyed the punch-you-right-in-the-kisser confrontation … Read More

Step 10 AA: The Daily Knockout Factor

“Continued To Take Personal Inventory And When We Were Wrong Promptly Admitted It.”-Step 10 AA You made it through the meat and potatoes. The first nine steps have left you well-fed and plump. Emotional indigestion notwithstanding, I’d argue you’re in a much better position than … Read More

(AA Step 9) 4 Principles To Crush Your Amends

“Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” -AA Step 9 You’re likely either terrified at this prospect or thrilled. If you’re anything like me, you’re both simultaneously. Yup, that’s me – driving 100 miles per … Read More

Step 8 AA: Some Faith, A List, & Readiness

“Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.”– Step 8 AA Choice Theory William Glasser, the renegade behaviorism-is-for-chumps psychiatrist, had some radical concepts that I believe can aid us in uncovering precisely the purpose of … Read More

Book Summaries

a grief observed summer 1 A grief observed summary

A Grief Observed Summary: A Painful Wrestling Match With God

A Grief Observed Summary: A Startingly Letter To God When C.S. Lewis penned A Grief Observed the premise was less propositional, less a philosophical exploration or academic explication of concepts, and more a man’s wrestling match with God, a hip-out-of-joint memoir as it were. There … Read More

AA Back To Basics: The Brainchild Of AA Or Wally P?

Wally P’s “Back To Basics” Speaking of the basics, is there ever a time when working the 12-Steps that one is beyond basic? I’ve heard the 12-Steps described as spiritual kindergarten or as the pancakes “just add water” variety. I think once more the question … Read More

Smart Recovery Handbook: The ABC Crash Course (REBT)

Therapeutic Presuppositions Presuppositions, as a necessary precondition for knowledge, have always fascinated me. When in my early twenties I was first introduced to Cornelius Van Til and his celebrated presuppositional apologetics my brain practically burned out at the synapses. Like the so-called transcendental argument, I … Read More

Inspiration

The Road Less Traveled Quotes [17] – The Best Of M. Scott Peck

Who Was M. Scott Peck & What Is The Road Less Traveled? “M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist (born May 22, 1936, New York, N.Y.—died Sept. 25, 2005, Warren, Conn.), wrote the best-selling book The Road Less Traveled (1978), which was credited with revolutionizing the self-help genre. Self-help books had … Read More

20 Revolutionary Carl Jung Quotes

Who Is C.G. Jung? “Carl Jung, in full Carl Gustav Jung, (born July 26, 1875, Kesswil, Switzerland—died June 6, 1961, Küsnacht), Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology, in some aspects a response to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of the extraverted and the … Read More

30 Life-Changing Epictetus Quotes

Who Is Epictetus? “A Greek philosopher of 1st and early 2nd centuries C.E., and an exponent of Stoic ethics notable for the consistency and power of his ethical thought and for effective methods of teaching. Epictetus’s chief concerns are with integrity, self-management, and personal freedom, which he … Read More

Q&A

a grief observed summer 3 refusal skills for alcohol

Refusal Skills For Alcohol: The Tools You Need To Say No & Mean It!

Why You Need Refusal Skills For Alcohol If you’re reading this it’s safe to assume you: If you’re honest with yourself, alcohol is inescapable. Avoiding it for a time is not only prudent but doable. However, eventually, you’ll face the siren and she will most … Read More

drinking culture 3 How To Deal With Alcohol Cravings

How To Deal With Alcohol Cravings (8 Methods To Survive The Surge)

The Ultimate Alcohol Cravings Toolbox Do you have the habit of living your life forwards but understanding it backwards? Is hindsight always 20-20? Do you ever prepare for pitfalls? Do you ever set up goals, outline a plan of action, and execute with precision? If … Read More

staying sober so hard 2 sobriety and depression

Sobriety And Depression: Startling Facts Of Early Recovery

Can Sobriety Cause Depression? One of the best descriptions I’ve ever encountered of early sobriety is relevant here: “a steady low-level depression and a persistent gut-wrenching impending-doomism.” Sobriety and depression are undeniably connected, particularly in early sobriety. Runs contrary to the pink cloud version often … Read More