Arrival


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I don’t get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

Ben Folds “The Luckiest”

Looking for an addiction treatment center? We appreciate the unique features of each individual suffering from all addiction. We offer a unique addiction recovery program for our patients. https://twitter.com/MichaelSteinbe9

You have wandered dark places, your soul parched, and you have chosen life and freedom. You have struggled and found a way to free yourself from slavery’s chains. Your choice had been stark.

damaged is more beautiful

I Heard An Angel Singing

Words by William Blake, Music by Martha Redbone, Aaron Whitby & John McEuen

I heard an Angel singing
When the day was springing
Mercy Pity Peace
Is the worlds release

Thus he sung all day
Over the new mown hay
Till the sun went down
And haycocks looked brown

I heard a Devil curse
Over the heath & the furze
Mercy could be no more
If there was nobody poor

And pity no more could be
If all were happy as we
At his curse the sun went down
And the heavens gave a frown

Down pourd the heavy rain
Over the new reapd grain
And Miseries increase
Is Mercy Pity Peace

I’ve stopped.  Why do I still suffer sometimes?

George Carlin addiction recovery

You have done a wonderful thing for yourself, but life can at times still be problematic and painful.  You have changed but it can be challenging, and occasionally impossible, to try to repair relationships lost because of our past addictive behaviors. We have a tendency to think that because we have struggled so mightily, that life should cut us some slack, but we will still have bad days.

Love is bigger Annie Lamott

Remember:

Out of the darkness you have come to a place where peace and grace can be found.

The beauty of life awaits you.

How can you maintain this new life? Find a support group which will work for you and makes sense to you. Learn how to cope with urges, or cravings, which could lead to a relapse. The SMART Recovery Handbook has an excellent section on how to handle these cravings. Most people find that maintaining a healthy lifestyle, leading moral lives and being involved in activities which are useful to others as well as themselves helps their self-esteem and aids them in finding joy in life.

When we are truly working an honest program of recovery...the promises are real!! "No more shame, be proud of who you are."There is nothing to be ashamed of any longer. The internal moral compass becomes balanced. We no longer hurt ourselves or others. "Choose well to live well"

They get regular exercise and eat healthy food. They find people to care about and who will care about them. They are grateful for the gift of life.

People in recovery take responsibility for making themselves happy.

What is Recovery

Despite what you may have heard, recovery is not a gift. Addicts are not cured. Recovery is war: a war against ourselves. It is a war of liberation, a war worth fighting but never really won. It is a war against our addictive brains and our own learned behavior which had enslaved us, and, like all attempts to change behavior, we can always revert. The best we can hope for is remission.

There is no one strategy which keeps us in remission, but there is a list of things and activities which can help and each person’s list is different: living a life which we are proud of; having an active social life; attending peer support groups; benefiting those whom we come into contact with; maintaining good relationships; finding as much love as we are able wherever we go and loving others as much as we possibly can; avoiding, if possible, negatives such as high stress, poverty, bad health, obsessing on the errors of our past. As we learn how to live our new lives, we add to our list things which work for us. We pick up tools and tricks to avoid setting off craving. We avoid triggers; we learn to rely on mediation where once we would have reacted automatically. We are people for whom some instances of spontaneity can be dangerous. We have learned that sometimes when you put your hand into a black box, you come out with a stump. We have also learned how to enjoy each day, each friend, each love, and we have learned how to find the joy in each moment of our existence, and that the real gift is life itself. Life may not always be fun, or easy, or pain-free, or without problems, but it will always be filled with potential and there is always room for us within life’s stream.

From the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs

How do others see their recoveries. Lets take a look at the  “What Is Recovery?” project. Researchers asked those who were in recovery what their experience was like. They found people in recovery even though those people were a group not normally desirous of public scrutiny by interviewing those who were in 12-step groups, other support groups, treatment, medication-assisted recovery, moderation, and those who were doing it on their own. They also looked at websites and books about recovery. These interviews resulted in a list of 167 items which participants thought helped define recovery and they then showed that list to 238 individuals who found consensus in 47 items that they concluded were truly indicative of recovery. They then showed this list of 47 items to 10,000 people in recovery and asked them if they thought the 47 items belonged or not.  After analyzing the results, the list of items was winnowed down to 37 well accepted “People in recovery are a hidden population,” Dr. Kaskutas, one of the researchers said. “There is a serious stigma attached to addiction. These elements that define recovery demonstrate to those going through it, as well as the general public and policymakers, that it is not something to be ashamed of.”

For the results of this survey, please go to the Recovery Definition page of https://www.jsad.com/doi/full/10.15288/jsad.2014.75.999?role=tab

Life is about relationship

dog-shirt  Chris Bowser, of Heroes Meeting Heroes

We are all connected.
  

Roger Hodgson, who wrote “Give a Little Bit”: “The song itself is such a pure, simple message that I think is really especially even more powerful today when the world has even more problems and it’s even more difficult sometimes to be compassionate and caring because we’ve got to put up all these barriers to survive; that it’s a song that really inspires people to give a little bit, not give a lot, just give a little bit and see how it feels and show that you care, and I know for me, every time I play it in concert, there’s something about that song. I look out and people just start smiling straight away and sometimes they hug each other and they start singing with me.”

People who succeed in recovery dive into life and embrace it, becoming involved in communities they care about and with people who interest them. After being trapped for so long in the endless cycle of addiction, they are ready to absorb all that life has to offer. If you want to maintain your recovery you will become connected.

Center for Addiction Recovery - Addiction Treatment Center: 1-800-570-4562 Center-for-Addiction-Recovery.com © Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Recovery

Heightened sensitivity means that you feel deeper on both an emotional and energetic level. You sense the emotional currents and moods in yourself and other people. On an energetic level you can sense the subtle vibrations of a person or location. This gift allows you a deeper level of intimacy with life, because it allows you to be more fine-tuned in relating --Kabir Jaffee

Journey Home – Abigail Washburn, Jurca, Jingli lyrics

[Foreign content] The song is sung in Mandarin.

The Journey Home by
Akaash

The journey home
Is never too long
Your heart arrives before the train
The journey home
Is never too long
Some yesterdays always remain
I’m going back to where my heart was light
When my pillow was a ship I sailed through the night

The journey home
Is never too long
When open arms are waiting there
The journey home
Is never too long
There’s room to love and room to spare
I want to feel the way that I did then
I’ll think my wishes through before I wish again

Not every road you come across
Is one you have to take
No, sometimes standing still can be
The best move you ever make

The journey home
Is never too long
One helps to heal the deepest pain
The journey home
Is never too long
Your heart arrives before the train

Love this quote. Loved her retreat on "Learning to Stay" which has applications in everyday life as well as anger management and addiction recovery (including things like addiction to sex or work or crappy food). Listen to the CDs anytime I'm in a rut. #INFJ #PemaChodron #learningtostay

Send me your stories. Tell me of your struggles and your triumphs. There is value there. Send your submissions to Jim@JDickey.com

We have come to an end of this part of our shared journey. If you are an addict, or if you love an addict, I hope this site will prove useful to you. I hope you understand addiction a little better. I hope you have accepted yourself or your loved one a little more. I hope you see a little light in your future and I hope you have a little more . . . hope.

All my love to you and yours.

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