Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Recently I had a fitful night of worry, tossing and turning, my thoughts uncontrollably circulating downward. The impending move to the Pacific Northwest had me anxious. It was two o’clock in the morning and I found myself counting all the things that could go wrong. I thought, it’s one thing to have moved to Chicago at age 22, quite another to return to Seattle at … Continue reading Good Morning
“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” ― C.S. Lewis A parent’s relationship to pain cannot help but be passed on to their children. Like many of you, my mother’s complicated relationship with pain was passed on to me. Here … Continue reading Pain
When I was 14 years old I got a job selling newspapers at the County Hospital. The hospital served an indigent population, many in need of long term care. It was my first real job and one in which I encountered many remarkable people. One such lesson was from a woman named Lilly. She lived in a room on the 4th floor on a secured … Continue reading Making Use of Depression
(Originally published January 19, 2016.) I recently read in an educational journal that 60% of today’s school age children see themselves as “exceptional.” In 1964, only eight percent of children would have so described themselves. When I think back to 1964, when I was 16, did I see myself as exceptional? Not so much. In those days Teachers were always right Coaches were never to be questioned … Continue reading Coming of Age