Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
I read a quote (uncredited) the other day that caught my attention: “Never blame anyone in your life. The good people give you happiness, the bad people give you experience, the worst people give you a lesson, the best people give you memories.” It struck me that when I look into the mirror in the morning all four characters stare back: the good, the bad, … Continue reading The Power of Thoughts
The following post was originally published February 4, 2017. I worked hard to perpetuate my stupidity for half my life. The other half has been spent gathering up my loose marbles. This marble gathering experience describes my process of recovery. For me, recovery has been 95% recovering parts of myself that I lost along the way. This has entailed: Challenging my ingrained biases Harnessing my … Continue reading The Gift of Silence
This quote from Joseph Campbell is heartening when I am in a place of deep struggle. But doesn’t the “dark night of the soul” sometimes seem unfathomably long? When my dark nights descend upon me negativity feeds on me like a hungry mushroom, my world morphs into a small, dreary place, the sun never shines, and it’s perpetually 10 minutes before midnight. These are … Continue reading The Passing of a Dark Night
There are times I’ve owned a time share in these foothills. The mind is difficult geography to guard; worry can so easily muck things up and distort reality. Small things appear large Thoughts are transformed into bogeymen Friends are turned into enemies Dr. Charles Mayo, founder of the Mayo Clinic, shared this observation: “Worry affects the circulation, the digestive system, the heart and the … Continue reading Why Worry?
Rousseau said, “To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have the most need to know.” I remember my Grandpa Pat sharing stories of the Irish Potato Famine (1845-50), crying as he spoke. The collective tragedy was so great that it continues to scar the Irish psyche to this day. Hard times may be collective, like … Continue reading Surviving in the Hardest of Hard Times