For addicts or for people in general who struggle with the concept of spirituality, accepting that they are powerless over addiction or that they are in such great emotional pain that it is impossible to make good decisions, it is imperative that they look for a power source outside themselves to help guide them in…
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You don’t have to know anything about twelve-step recovery to use this tool; it applies to everyone. When you are faced with a choice, take the hard choice, and ninety-nine out of one hundred times it will be both the sober choice and the healthy choice. When it comes to addiction, what comes naturally for…
DetailsSet aside a morning quiet time. This is probably the most crucial of the daily tools. It means getting up early enough each morning to sit down and consciously say to yourself, “This is my quiet time and a commitment to my recovery today.” Remember, if you take the action, the feelings will follow. Then—if…
DetailsAddicts, as well as many others, believe that being in control is how to achieve success and happiness in life. People who follow this rule use it as a survival skill, having usually learned it in childhood. As long as they make the rules, no one can back them into a corner with their feelings.…
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First, let’s look at the addict who is in his or her active disease and in denial about his or her addictive thinking. At the heart of that thinking is the need for problems. As long as there is a problem, there is a reason or excuse to use. Also central to addictive thinking is…
DetailsHumility is a term not frequently heard early in the addiction recovery process. Seeing the reality of how we view ourselves from a self-esteem standpoint is often difficult. Humility—allowing ourselves to be just one among others—means not only letting go of an increased ego, but also learning to believe that you are just as deserving…
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By: James L. Fenley, Jr., MD Addiction is a disease with many potential faces, including, but not limited to, alcohol and other drugs. Also, once someone is addicted to alcohol or other drugs—whether they are in recovery or not—their addiction can generalize to other areas, such as gambling, eating, or sex. When one form of…
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The power of addiction is a force built on denial. This power is so dominant in active addiction that addicts can neither see nor hear the devastation and losses occurring around them as a result of their disease. Sometimes, maybe years down the road, some crisis occurs that causes them to “come up for air”…
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We live in a world with a multitude of words that signify feelings that are negative in connotation—words such as embarrassed, guilty, ashamed, frustrated, anxious, nervous, desperate, depressed, self-pitying, humiliated, annoyed, and many more. What’s interesting is that we are not born with any of these feelings. We are taught these words as we grow…
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The Mind of an Addict One of the most prominent characteristic of typical addictive thinking is to externalize problems, to blame things on other people or situations. This tendency to play the role of victim and/or to be bitter about what life has “done to” him or her is totally unconscious on the part of…
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