Tag: Recovery

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Lao Who?

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Hey there , So, it should be obvious to you now that I am taking a new tact in our discussions. You have, undoubtedly, noticed certain changes in the tone of what I write, my subject matter, and, most obviously, in my closing. For some time I have signed off with the simple phrase, “Stay strong.” I used this because I wanted to leave you with the subtle reminder that you already are strong and it was my job just to remind you of it and encourage you to explore it. Since I returned from St. Petersburg, we’ve been exploring… Read More »

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I Was A College Dropout

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Hey there , I never graduated college. I had every intention of doing so when I started out. In fact I was what my wife affectionately refers to as a “schoolie.” I finished high school near the top of my class, with an “Advanced” diploma, AP classes, college credit and a solid GPA. My first college class was Sociology 101. I took it from 8 to 12 on Saturdays, the second semester of my senior year. I entered college a member of the school’s Honors Program, again pursuing an advanced degree. I was a History major. There was only one… Read More »

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A Million Little Pieces

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Hey there , Back in January of 2005, the first month of my sobriety, I read a book, A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey. Frey and his book had just been rocketed to instant celebrity by a gushing testimonial by Oprah over how much she loved the book and how badly each and every one of us needed to read it. Just as quickly as he ascended he crashed and burned. His book, published as a memoir of his experience in rehab was revealed to be an elaborate exaggeration. Oprah rescinded her endorsement and he was publicly eviscerated, drawn… Read More »

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“Everything Happens for a Reason”

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Hey there, On Friday I shared a bit of my history and that pivotal moment in my life when I decided to stop using drugs. There is a cliché that’s often bandied about in self-help and get-off-your-ass-and-do-something circles and that is, “Everything happens for a reason.” What we most often take from this is that there is some divine plan at work; that we are a part of a bigger scheme devised by God, or the Universe, or whatever name you choose to describe the force that drives what we know as reality. There’s comfort in the idea that someone… Read More »

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Clean and Sober

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Hey there, For a good ten years I was a drug addict.  I was a “recreational user” for longer than that but by addict I mean I was daily user — for ten years. I stopped seven years, nine months and 27 days ago. New Year’s Day, 2005 ranks, along with the day Samantha and I snuck off and eloped and the days my three daughters were born, as one of the most important days of my life.  It was the day I decided I was bigger than my problems and that I didn’t need an external salve to make… Read More »