When I first had the idea to blog, I simply needed to vent. I needed to get things off my chest and needed an outlet that offered my complete freedom to do so. I loved the freedom that the internet world offered to me. A platform to speak my mind and share my truest, most…
Category: Personal Posts
Well hello familiar stranger.
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…
Happy Anniversary… x2!
As much as I loathe getting on my *personal facebook account sometimes, I really do appreciate not having to remember anything whatsoever. (Birthdays, social events, life-milestones lol) Having said that, Facebook has reminded me that September 13, marks my 3 year anniversary of quitting smoking cigarettes! September 13, 2011. When my Recovery journey began, quitting…
Take the Leap
Being one hundred percent positive that we should do something is an elusive luxury that we don’t get to have. We can’t base our decisions on being completely certain of an outcome and aside from knowing a probable outcome based on statistics or patterns, we can only trust God, and leap. If we fall short…
My Birthday, Pregnancy, & Morning Sickness.
I turned 31 yesterday. I got a beautiful necklace and ring from my husband and children, along with some useful home-made coupons from my boys….that I will definitely be utilizing before they expire. Or, they will sit in a drawer looking all cute until I move them to a keepsake box so someday I can…
Books. Books. Books.
I thought I’d share the books that I am reading right now and I might do little informal reviews for each one as I finish. Not that my opinion on reading material particularly matters, ha! I just thought It would be fun to share. First, you must know that I am pretty bad about starting more…
Goals.
Growing up I observed certain things that taught me a lot about the attitude and expectations of living a life at a really fast speed with no real direction. I didn’t see a lot of follow through. I saw a lot of getting things now now now, by any means possible. The overall feel…
My Cancelled Plans.
This photo should say – “Hey Brittany, your plans never work out- because God has better ones.” Guys. I have been going to school for awhile now. Completely cramming and studying addiction and psychology. For the last year of classes, I have been mentally preparing myself for a new beginning. I have been excitedly &…
The Legacy We Leave.
I am not really sure that any blog post of mine would ever express the impact that this one woman has had on so many people; well, not in a way that would even begin to do her justice or accurately illustrate the depth or influence that her work and life has had. Today is…
Your Journey.
This is a book that I just finished. I really enjoyed it. It is probably really old. I am not sure when it was published, because I didn’t look. I found it in a huge pile of old books that were going to be thrown away. I am sharing a few excerpts that I personally…
Step 12
This is truly how I feel and is my primary motivation for all that I do – blog related. There is hope and there is opportunity to change, for anyone who chooses to work for it. For daily inspiration, info, humor and more check out Discovering Beautiful on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DiscoveringBeautiful
MBTI- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. These preferences were extrapolated from the typological theories proposed by Carl Gustav Jung and first published in his 1921 book Psychological Types. I had to take this test for a class. I had never really explored this realm of psychology before, but…
Sharing an excerpt…
An excerpt from a book entitled The Journey, Our Quest for Faith and Meaning, written by Karen Lee-Thorp: Belief in something doesn’t make it true; only truth makes a belief true. But without truth, a belief may only be a sincere speculation. True beliefs then, are beliefs that correspond with reality. When the Christian faith claims to…
Thank you Paul.
I have always felt particularly drawn to the Apostle Paul’s writing. That dude practiced what he preached. He told us to rejoice in suffering; not writing from a comfortable vacation waterfront beach house or while addressing a mega church…. but while he was sitting in prison. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our…
Makes you think..
Hey Encourager’s!
While there may be human paperwork filer’s out there, there are also so many accepting, loving and kind people out there too. (I have a feeling there are more than we know, but they, for some unfortunate reason, aren’t as vocal.) However, the numbers are growing- there are people who are just as fed up…
My thoughts today.
The therapeutic process is a journey. It is a process of self-discovery. Individual and group therapy sessions help us to come to our own personal realizations. It is therapeutic, self-actualization. We participate in this process and little by little- we begin to get to know ourselves. We grow. We reveal things to ourselves as we…
Christianity and Science.
There haven’t been any supernatural phenomenons curing me of this sleeping monster. Jesus saved my life. Gave me life. Forgave me. Having faith in Jesus has allotted me power and strength to break free from my strongholds and keep away from substances.. to build a new life.. to find a new identity… to have a…
A Not So Scientific Self-Led Social Experiment.
This week I made an intentional decision to check-out. My Discovering Beautiful posts were scheduled a week out and posted automatically. (A feature that I had never really taken advantage of until now, and I am loving it! What?! Where have I been?) Aside from a few seconds a day, I have not been online…
Deep Thoughts.
I am just a person in Recovery. I manage and control this monster that is now dormant; who is locked in my head. I have managed to bury it alive and suffocate it with truth, factual information, hobbies, passions, strong people, positive relationships and other things that I value. I continue to drown and suffocate…
You CAN.
Tonight the boys and I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Stuck”. We knew it would be sad and probably tough to sit through. The thumbnail showed pictures of tiny, adorable little humans (children) from around the globe, and the short description warned us that the movie would be about the complex dynamics of adoption and…
Gratitude
Can you remember that cheesy 90’s drug prevention commercial that no one actually learned from? “This is your brain.” “This is your brain on drugs.” (*cue egg frying sounds) Imagine a heart exploding, and a voice like Dennis Haysbert’s, “This is your heart. This is your heart on God’s Grace.” That’s sort of how I feel….
Ignoring My Boundaries.
Last month I was literally chased out of my grandmother’s funeral. Technically, I was ran out of a ‘celebration of life.’ I think that this could have been avoided if the genius who planned it chose a beautiful, historical location that meant something to our family, WITHOUT the open -bar that was posted up alongside…
Just Another Gift of Sobriety.
Good Grief.
The stages of mourning and grief are universal and are experienced by people from all walks of life. Mourning occurs in response to an individual’s own terminal illness, the loss of a close relationship, or to the death of a valued being, human or animal. (Psychcentral.com) I used to run and hide from any…
MY Grandmother.
My grandmother passed away in her sleep on January 8, 2014 – at around 3 a.m. I know you might be envisioning a sweet little old lady, with cats or a cute sweatshirt that has something embroidered on the front of it… or maybe a woman whose house smelled like freshly baked, warm cookies, or…
Happy New Year! 2014
We all want to improve or change something in our lives and this time of year gives us a great starting point and although the large majority of people will not actually follow through on their new year’s resolutions, it is still a perfect time to take a step back to reflect on our…
No Words.
I love everything about this.
So THIS is Love.
When I began to believe that God did exist and I actually began to feel and see the evidence of Him in my life, the way that I experienced love immediately changed. Unlike most other aspects of change in recovery from addiction (and underlying issues) this change was almost instant and didn’t require work. No…
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…