When my grandmother’s house burned down, the photo albums were MIA for a long while. It took awhile to dig through the remnants of her belongings that were salvageable to gather them all up. Many made it through, but a lot were damaged by smoke or water, and all of them smell like mold…
Search Results for: stranger
If I could tell you anything.
When we were kids, I should have been a more loving, kind, supportive, and involved sister. Some parts of me wince at the thought of reminiscing over the past and the kind of person I used to be. Why didn’t I do more? Hug you more? Tell you it would all be okay? Still, I…
Life Recovery & Ephesians
I have a thing for taking notes. I am a notebook hauling kind of person; the kind of person who keeps a notepad in the compartment of my driver door in the car and plenty of working pens in the console, ‘just in case’. I have never had a decent idea pop into my head…
I Didn’t Realize I Let Go
Have you ever wondered how to tell if you are really ‘over’ something? There are some things I am really great at letting go. I can usually keep it simple and it happens almost automatically. A lady blatantly stepped in line in front of me at the post office this afternoon and I said nothing. Not…
Deliveries, Deliverance, and The Trials of This Life
I heard drone delivery is being tested by Amazon. My mind immediately went to a future sky peppered with boxes or bags full of our wants and needs, and our sweet cargo dropping at our front doors. Not only will we have the option of shopping from the comfort and privacy of our own home,…
Self-Care In Addiction Recovery
My addiction recovery was only supposed to help me learn how-to not eat pills for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I never went in expecting anything more than to learn how to abstain from drugs and alcohol. So I began to wonder why so much emphasis was being placed on self-care and self-love when I went…
Hard Work Always Pays Off, Sometimes In Unexpected Ways.
Steps 8, 9, & 10. I believe it is smart to continue living out these steps in my day-to-day life. Not only to maintain my sobriety, but my maintain my integrity that reflects my values as a person and the strength of my interpersonal relationships. If you need a refresher, here are steps 8-10: 8.Made…
No Thank-You, Anxiety
Ten years ago I think if you would have asked me, I would have told you that I believed that I was an outgoing, people-oriented person. Never-mind the fact that it only took three or four various types of Benzo’s carefully carelessly mixed with any amount of cheap alcohol to render my central nervous system…
Guest: Andrew-From Alcoholic to Workaholic
How do you define success? In my opinion success is not the amount of money I make, the car that I drive or the clothes that I wear. Success for me is being 8 years sober, running a growing business that employs deserving people, and providing a great service to our clients. **I have never…
A Grateful Mother’s Day
I have taken advantage of the opportunities to learn from my addiction and my former debilitating lifestyle in all its glory; the one that deadened and demanded it have my whole person, but mostly, forcefully snatched my desire or ability to focus on or experience anything that I would perceive as good. Being an unhealthy person…
Recovering Out Loud.
I have received a ton of positive and uplifting feedback in reference to the “guest posts/shares” section of this blog. I really wanted to take a second say thank you, and share my thoughts on why its important to share our stories as people who are living in recovery from drugs and alcohol. Among all…
Guest: Alexandrea- Choosing to Live a Sober Life
I’ve never written about this. Most of the people in my life know nothing about it, yet here I am, penning an entire article about the dirty little secret my family adamantly ignores as much as possible. Whenever we gather, there’s an elephant in the room. I grew up with him. For the first decade…
I Don’t Belong In a Church
I have been reflecting on my time and my experiences with Celebrate Recovery, and although I don’t attend meetings anymore, there are so many things that this program taught me. It is okay to be *exactly* who you are inside of an actual church: During one of the very first large group sessions that I…
Hot Mess, Party of One.
October and November were uncharacteristically difficult for me. Like really crappy. I mean we all have stress, and we all have our fair share of ‘lifey’ kinds of things that are always happening. Hell I know and have been praying for some families who are really struggling with some serious things right now. But I…
My #Mommitment Changed Everything.
I took a pledge. I made a commitment. I am a part of a movement. A mom-movement dedicated to kindness and non-judging of other moms.. known online as #Mommitment. Since discovering the original article on Twitter a few months ago (you can read that here: http://www.nextlifenokids.com/2015/01/tired-of-mom-wars-why-im-making.html) and making my own personal pledge, I have found that nothing…
Closet Bloggers: 3 Reasons to Click ‘Publish’
In 2011, I began by blogging for therapy. Over time, after I did some growing and healing, I thought that it might be cool if God could use me in any way possible to help just ONE person. Just ONE I told myself. Then.. I would feel like I had done some good. Somehow, sharing…
Percocet. I love you very much.
After my c-section and tubal ligation, I chose not to take any pain medication stronger than the standard issued 800 mg of Ibuprofen every few hours. It did absolutely nothing. My pain remained a solid 10. On top of having latching issues and being brand new to breastfeeding a new adorable tiny human every single…
Why Relationships Are Sort of Important:
Never trust or rely on anyone. People will always let you down. I choose to walk alone. This mentality blossomed into what would later become one of my greatest ‘character defects’. My addiction turned me into a taker, a manipulator and user of people. I ‘needed’ their services, their money, or any other tangible, useful…
Unexpected Gifts of Living in Recovery.
Using substances may have been some of the darkest, saddest, loneliest & scariest times of my existence, but that wasn’t where I first started to lose myself. That started long before. I think pain & trauma can make for fertile ground for that to happen, especially if it is not addressed. I began hiding as…
Carrying Your Message.
The step 12 that I am familiar with reads like this: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs. I am sure the one you have memorized is similar, give or take a few words or phrases. Maybe…
About Me.
Most personal blogs, specifically Recovery blogs, have a detailed ‘my story’ or ‘about me’ section. Often, they choose to start from birth, work their way up to their addiction forming, proceed to telling the story about how rock bottom felt, and work their way to the present. I really don’t see any problems with it and…
Your Recovery, and Mine.
I do my best to support all types of people. I interact with people all of the time from all different religions, who have various beliefs, opposing view- points and people with morals that don’t align with mine, and people who I sometimes struggle to identify with. I have talked with people who struggle with process addiction,…
Bravely Amateur.
consequences unable to teach Sobriety out of reach hands reaching for help,soul screaming for rest shunned,pushed away, not good enough at best angry, empty exhaustion setting in help me, I’m slipping, no ones watching, dying from my sin one kind hand, one open heart, the right time, the right place, a fresh new start recovery,…
I Am Free.
When I entered recovery I had never experienced true freedom. I yearned for it. I think I always had. I had always envisioned a life of just being. A life of feeling true contentment and having the ability to laugh and connect with other people and to enjoy my life. This piece of scripture from…
Passionate Work.
Not everyone gets to this place, or has the opportunity. Often, the people who I meet who have, have stumbled upon this gift as a result of going through some really tough things through some self-revelation. But they come out the other side, and they just know. It is an incredible thing and it is…