What is the difference between striving and thriving? The general understanding of the words is the difference between making strenuous effort and flourishing. To me it is the difference between getting clean and recovering. Both efforts are important. One got me to the gift of desperation; the other keeps me on my road to restoring my
“Happy Hour” has a complicated history of origin, but regardless of who and how (The French or the American Navy) there was a collective awareness that at a certain time of the day between 3-7 p.m. people are at the end of their will power. The end of their blood sugar. The end of working hard.
I stood on the playground in my green, parent-volunteer apron. Kids were eating, playing, running, sliding, screaming. A fifth grader carrying a lunch tray frantically ran toward me and then screeching to a halt. His eyes bulged. He looked like he was going to throw up. But there was no sound. Oh my God are you
My friend’s daughter broke her wrist. I looked at her picture and immediately felt her pain and joined the chorus of others – “Ouch and poor baby!” But then I looked closely at the cast. Scrawled in red were the words: I HEAL FAST. What a concept. Broadcast “I heal quickly” to the world, to your
I am on the verge of a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis. When I faced disappointment today, I recognised something about myself that came out in this poem. The stereotype Borderline Personality Disorder sufferer is reactive outwardly. I am not. I wanted to share this. I live in words unspoken, the shore you see, gives no indication
I have been on this planet for a while – and in my recovery just about half as long. I have seen society go through a number of shifts regarding women, and I have seen women go through a number of shifts regarding themselves. The rooms of recovery have changed in response to both of
When entering recovery we embark upon a journey with many new perspectives from different sources that can help us heal from a seemingly hopeless state of existence. Lots of options and information. However, as women we are often the main caretakers in our environments and have many roles we need to attend to. Our own
Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery through the use of a lacquer resin sprinkled with gold powder to mend the broken pieces back together. At some point in the 15th Century, the Japanese started to employ this technique. Collectors everywhere started to clamor after these repaired pieces because they were seen to
Matters of the heart are generally a big issue for people in recovery. Not only from the emotional aspect, as we learn to come to terms with our past, but also from a physical sense, having spent years abusing our bodies recklessly. So what mends a broken heart? Self-care is always the first port of
What does Valentine’s Day have to do with yoga and recovery? Love, admiration, and relationships that are discovered within ourselves and with one another at meetings and other sharing. But occasionally we draw in advertising, movies, and other social media and experience sadness, loneliness, and, maybe, self pity. Sometimes we crave and contemplate what we
