Why Do I Feel Stuck? [] Chapter 1: Why do I feel stuck? (the left side) [] “Why do I feel stuck?” is what you might call a left-side question — it names the problem but doesn’t point to a way out yet. Here’s what stuck actually looks like from the inside: you can see...

i did not surrender because i suddenly became willin; i surrendered because i had finally exhausted myself. i had to push my alcoholism to the very edge of destruction before i could admit that i was powerless over what i had become. i lost family, friendships, possessions, trust, dignity, and every external thing i once...

[] The Story Isn’t Over — The Pen Is Still in Your Hand [] There’s a specific feeling worth naming: not that life is over, but that the story essentially is. That too much has happened, too much has been lost, and the gap between where you are and where you thought you’d be by...

i remain grateful that my sponsor possessed the patience to walk me through the steps without attemptin to force them upon me. he was persistent, sometimes more persistent than i wanted him to be, yet he allowed me the dignity of discoverin their meanin through experience. that Perseverance became part of my preparation for step...

[] You Didn’t Stumble Upon This Post by Accident [] Has anyone ever shared something with you that you resented (because of your addiction) when they were really just trying to help? If so, this is worth talking about directly, because it’s a different moment than if you’d gone looking for a resource on your...

my alcoholism remains insidious because it does not require alcohol to resurrect the behaviors, attitudes, and self-centered thinkin that once governed my existence. before i recognize what is happenin, i can become defensive, impatient, resentful, or careless with another persons or my own feelins. sometimes i recognize these manifestations quickly; other times, i become aware...

today i get to live a life i could not have conceived before recovery. i spent years convinced i was inherently unworthy of inclusion, carryin an obscure conviction that somethin within me disqualified me from belongin. through my inventory, i discovered that those feelins of inadequacy were not isolated emotions; they were accumulated wounds that...

when i return to the rooms where i got sober, i am confronted with the man i once was. i can still remember the desperation, confusion, fear, and spiritual emptiness that followed me through those doors. those early days were not easy. there were battles ragin inside me that i had neither the language nor...

[] When Life Takes Something Away, Ask a Different Question [] One day, life may ask you a question you never wanted to answer. A diagnosis. The loss of someone you love. A broken relationship. Addiction. Fear. Or maybe just waking up one morning and wondering how you ended up so far from the peace...

givin love to somebody who has forgotten what love is, or what it feels like to be loved, is a gift i cherish sharin. i remember what it was like to have no love within me. i remember the torturous loneliness, the confusion, the fear, and the despair that followed me even when i was...