14 results for tag: Alcoholics Anonymous
Change Is Possible – Change Really Is Possible
I am often asked a question that baffles me, "Can people REALLY change?". I am baffled because it astounds me that people do not recognize how we are all changing in large and small ways all the time. However, I do relate to the experience of feeling hopeless that I cannot change enough to enjoy life. This I understand. I can still recall clearly that night in October of 1989 when, for a moment, I felt life was not worth living. An image flashed across my mind of driving my car into my then-girlfriend, who was standing right in front of me, followed by me crashing into the large oak tree across the street. It was clear in my mind. We were arguing in the street outside of her house in front of my car. At that moment, it made complete sense to me. I felt like there was no other viable option.
At the time, I was six months clean and sober in so-called recovery; things did not feel better. In fact, they felt worse. I did not believe I could change. I did not believe life could or would improve. I did not believe I was capable of rigorous honesty as the A.A. Preamble stated; "Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty." I believed that I was not capable of being honest with myself; therefore, I could not recover. I was wrong.
A man who was forty years sober then told me if I wanted to change, I needed to tie my shoes differently. That was the beginning. All the successes I have enjoyed since that night began with one small choice. This is not some cute fable or a new-age platitude. This is my real-life experience of change and growth.
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... Women & Booze: Is Everything We Know About Alcoholism Wrong? – mindbodygreen.com
This is an interesting article on Women & Booze. The main thesis is that men and women interact with alcohol differently. Therefore, Alcoholics Anonymous is not the best option for women since many are not alcoholics, according to the author. There are several important points she raises about women & booze, such as the lack of ability of A.A. to adapt and update program elements that may not make sense any longer or maybe never did. This is valid, and I have presented similar thoughts before. In addition, the chapter "To Wives" was not actually written by Lois Wilson, which further supports the claims of AA being anti-feminist. Who ...
Drugs Don’t Cause Addiction: This Brilliant Video Will Change Your View on Drugs Forever
Drugs Don’t Cause Addiction: This Brilliant Animated Video Will Change Your View on Drugs Forever. I do not know if it "changed my view on drugs forever", but it is very interesting, and the work he has done toward shifting the mindset of addiction globally is outstanding. It is time we all let go of the old assumptions about addiction and its causes. They are not correct or productive in moving towards a healthier society or reducing the number of people struggling with addiction, whatever their drug of choice may be.
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... Alternative Cause of Addiction – Connection
Connection, addiction, loneliness, isolation—we all need connection, no matter how much we fight it, kick, and scream.
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... A Year Without Alcohol
A Year Without Alcohol is an awesome blog post by Kelly Fitzgerald about her year without alcohol. Kelly's experiences are fairly normal for someone making a choice to become sober and lead a sober lifestyle. I am including her story because it is important for people to read the experiences of those who may be going through something similar and know it can and will get better.
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A Sober and Healthy Life
I remember in the late 80s and early 90s when AA, NA, and all of the 12-step programs first began to gain mainstream popularity and support. At the time, there was almost a sense of hysteria about alcoholics and addicts finding a "new" method to create a sober and healthy life. In a matter of just a few years, there were registered 164 different 12-step programs based on the structure and foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous. Soon after that, the very popular book Codependent No More by Melody Beattie became a bestseller, and it seemed as if everybody was claiming they were now codependent or somebody in their life was codependent. Codependency was all the rage. It is funny to think that pretty much everybody was claiming somebody or themselves to be either an alcoholic, addict, or codependent as if these were goals to achieve in life.
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Can Watching Football Teach Me About Recovery?
There is an addiction treatment method for recovering alcoholics and addicts called Recovery Dynamics. It was created by a practical, wise old alcoholic with some of the best professionals in the field of recovery. Recovery Dynamics uses the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous as a modality for treatment, not just as an afterthought. There are many excellent exercises in the manual; this is one of my favorites for working with groups of addicts and alcoholics....
