Chapter 51 One Trick Pony, Dismount
"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity." - Seneca (often wrongly attributed to Oprah Winfrey)
*****
Alcohol did not PREPARE me for CATASTROPHE, but it certainly took me there. If I were ever to recover, I would have to accept responsibility for my actions. Sobriety offered the opportunity to construct & reconstruct a fruitful & satisfying new life. Recovery is Possible, Doable, Irreplaceable.
There is a book on Backgammon titled "Luck is for Losers." The meaning (implied) is that study and practice are necessary to become a Master of Backgammon. DITTO expressions about Recovery, such as "Work it, You're Worth it."
DON'T PRESS YOUR LUCK! ["Work it, You're Worth it."]
*****
For an added treat, check out my Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Senaca opens Chapter 51 (One Trick Pony, Dismount) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS!
"To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves." - Will Durant
*****
Gossip and Complaining are Great Ways to Kill Time (Alcoholism and Addiction might be other Great Ways, too). One might infer that from my High Horse, I am suggesting that my luxuriating in Gossip and Complaining are Non-Events. Not so, Horatio. They have their place in the Social Fabric and I am not Guilt-Free, but Recovery has taught me to turn down the volume on those affairs and concentrate on my inner workings a Tad More. Progress not Perfection (steer me in the right direction, done with kind intention).
Self-deprecating humor has always been my tool. "Ego is not my Amigo" for it is me who is the fool.
*****
For an added treat, check out my Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Will Durant closes Chapter 51 (One Trick Pony, Dismount) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS!
Chapter 52 Simon Says Stay Sober
"Learn to say no. It will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
*****
This is NOT the NO of "JUST SAY NO" to drugs (a failed policy based on unrealistic expectations of America's Youth and the Crime and Punish mindset that accompanied it). This is NOT the NO of Parents SPOUTING, "Do as I Say, Not as I Do."
This is the NO that follows Education and Rehabilitation. This is the NO of "I'm in Recovery and I do not need a drink or drug." This is the NO of "nothing matters more than that we remain sober because when we remain sober everything matters more."
This is the NO that means "YES!" to all things substantive. This is the NO of a meaningful life. This is the NO that becomes an Affirmation of Self and of Others.
"KNOW NO!" - NOT mine, but I embrace it. Ig-Pay Atin-Lay? no no no no no.
*****
For an added treat, check out my Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Charles Haddon Spurgeon opens Chapter 52 (Simon Says Stay Sober) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions of Both!)
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell
*****
How right you are, Bertrand!
Sad, but true. Too many Know-it-Alls with Deaf Ears. No wonder that they feel they have to shout!
My doubts are many, large and small, but I do know this one thing for sure: I will not drink or drug today. On most all else, the votes are still being tabulated in my empty head (empty of alcohol and drugs that is).
Un-Doubt-ed-ly, I am Betwixt and Between on Most All Other Matters because "Nothing matters more than that we remain sober because when we remain sober everything matters more."
*****
For an added treat, check out my Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Bertrand Russell closes Chapter 52 (Simon Says Stay Sober) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions of Both!)
Chapter 53 Accomplice To Murder?
"Absence of proof is not proof of absence." - William Cowper
*****
This William Cowper Quote is a good one to add to your Utility Belt. At first, it was not fully resonant to me, but it did lead me near neighborhoods of TRUTH. In the meantime, here's how it sidetracked me:
The ABSENCE of ABSTINENCE in the Bar Rooms of my 30-year Drinking Career fed my invulnerability to any suggestions of even cutting down on my consumption of alcohol (until Alcohol had utterly consumed me). Before that, if Abstinence existed at all, my only exposures to it were from Religious Fringe Groups in my youth knocking at my door as Darkly Dressed Bible-Toting Willy Loman-Like Characters.
They were Lead-by-Example FAILS ("I will NEVER be like them!" I told myself, not knowing I would some day become as bad or worse than them, but in different ways that would horrify anyone). The Rooms of Recovery remained distant and unknown to me for decades to come.
With 17 Years of Continuous Sobriety under my belt now, I need no further PROOF (100 Proof or otherwise). All kidding aside, it remains a heady quote.
*****
For an added treat, check out my Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by William Cowper opens Chapter 53 (Accomplice to Murder?) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions of Both!)
"I am an agnostic: I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of." - Clarence Darrow
*****
Monotheism emerged in Egypt a thousand years before the birth of Christ. Polytheism before that. One God, Many Gods, No Gods.
When asked if he believed in God, W.C, Fields reportedly replied "No" and when pressed as to what he did believe, he Shot Back, "I BELIEVE I'LL HAVE ANOTHER COCKTAIL." You may wish that there is PROOF of that, but none exists.
W.C. died in 1946. I was born in 1950. Perhaps I've been Reincarnated. 100 PROOF.
*****
For an added treat, check out my Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Clarence Darrow closes Chapter 53 (Accomplice to Murder?) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions of Both!)
Chapter 54 The God of Frozen Yogurt
"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone." - Gertrude Stein
*****
"Actions Speak Louder than Words."
Of course, that's true, but sometimes words ARE action, may inspire action. And when we are motivated by other people's thoughts and actions, we, in turn are inspired to give thanks and pass it on, a daisy chain in motion.
The Butterfly Effect: a small change, a word of thanks, reverberates and, at least in theory, oceans away, the effects multiply. A chain-reaction has to start somewhere. Perhaps here. Perhaps now. Old Gert & I join hands across Generations. She, an American in Paris between WWI and WWII wrote the words pictured here. I pass them on to you.
Giving Thanks is a Far Cry from Saying Nothing. "Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone." And so, one hopes, the Chain-Reaction she started moves forward.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Gertrude Stein opens Chapter 54 (The God of Frozen Yogurt") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
"Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out." - Edwin Markham
*****
"Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out."
I may emerge from defeat stronger on the other side, if it doesn't permanently disfigure me or outright kill me first. I will admit this: When Markham's statement is True (which is not always), it is Pure Poetry. I hear Maya Angelou's Caged Bird Sing and fly when its door opens, GLORIOUS, TRIUMPHANT.
When DEFEAT becomes VICTORY 2.0, it is so much sweeter. There may be one slight advantage some of us in recovery have over those who have never been addicted: We have felt the Prison of Addiction, so Our Freedom has the wings of a bird with more ruffled and varied feathers.
Clean & Sober is kept close to my chest, my senses still intact.
Strive on, my Sober Friends, and fly.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Edwin Markham closes Chapter 54 (The God of Frozen Yogurt") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
Chapter 55 Down for the Count
"Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right." - Laurens Van der Post
*****
You may believe the World is flat, but that doesn't make it so. Men landed on the Moon. It is not made of Cheese. On and on. Don't frighten me. Agree to disagree, but the Halls of Science and the Courts of Law will be my Guide and seem to be on my side.
I concede that I have been wrong many times over and I will be wrong again. Thinking of myself as a High-Achieving Alcoholic failed me in the end. I was not that, never was, never could be. Agree to disagree or move along. I have no time for more than that.
Beyond the Moon's Expectations, my Clean & Sober World is not flat.
Surprise. I'm still alive, and that is that.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Laurens Van der Post opens Chapter 54 ("Down for the Count") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
"Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst." - Lin Yutang
*****
I thought I was accepting the worst (at the height of my High-Functioning Alcoholic Period) when I imagined my death by alcohol: I would be a Modern-Day Anti-Hero of sorts, clutching my Dewar's on the Rocks as I died. Fate accepted. Unfortunately, years later, the reality was none so Heroic and the horror of the moment as I lay dying lacked peace of mind of any kind.
Accepting the worst of what has already happened is one thing, accepting the worst your imagination can conjure up about the future is quite another.
I did not have a drink today. And no, that is not the worst that could happen, but you could not have told me that those many years ago. A life without my drink was once the worst I could imagine.
Silly Boy.
That changed. I changed. A Clean and Sober life can be imagined and attained.
Accept that. Imagine that. Live that. Do that. Be that.
Peace of Mind is the Best and Recovery has brought me that.
Once unimaginable: A Sober Man.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Lin Yutang closes Chapter 55 ("Down for the Count") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
Chapter 56 Express Snail
"The ego could be defined simply in this way: a dysfunctional relationship with the present moment." - Eckhart Tolle
*****
Was it I (or Me or My or Who and How?) who always had the Need for MORE (&now&now&now&now)?
I was not Here & Now when the Drink was Where(?) & When(?). It no longer matters whether it was the drinking that made me dysfunctional or if drinking merely made me MORE Dysfunctional than that Time Before My First-Ever Drink.
We-in-Recovery, we know, at least, that the Best of Life is Minus the Drink or Drug and the Best of Life is in the Here & Now. I was not There when the Drink was WHERE & WHEN. I Rest my Case... Now I must rest to fully function when I awake again, a new HERE, a new NOW, Clean & Sober in this different, better world.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Eckhart Tolle opens Chapter 56 ("Express Snail") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
"Every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward." - Thomas Edison
*****
It is difficult to take so much as a step, much less a step forward, when addiction is at your throat and has taken hold of your brain. Eventually nothing much will remain of your old way your life and the unlimited possibilities of living free of addiction will become part of the new you in Recovery.
"If at first you don't succeed... " push forward anyway. Push forward anyway you can (Try). Shared Courage. Find it (Try). Strive on, Incessantly Strive (Try again).
"If at first you don't succeed... " a better life is on the road ahead. A future can and must be found (Find). There is no use in using alcohol or drugs. They will use you up (Find). Change is possible, doable (Find a way).
Life is precious, irreplaceable.
Step forward. Strive. Strive on. Strive again.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Thomas Edison closes Chapter 56 ("Express Snail") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
Chapter 57
{No pictures found to accompany quotes from this chapter.}
Chapter 58
"A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us." - Franz Kafka
For me, an alcoholic in long-term recovery, "the frozen sea inside us" is also the Frozen Sea Between Us. One could easily define alcoholism as the "Disease of Separation." Books are, indeed, only one of the tools in my Recovery Toolbox, but it is a powerful one. Reading helped me bridge the gaps between isolation and solitude and the gaping holes between separation and belonging.
Recovery brought me to the intersection of Solitude and Belonging and books helped melt my addiction-frozen heart. From feeling shunned, isolated and alone in my addiction, years later in recovery, I found myself living in a state of gratitude, inner-peace and solitude. I could not have known the goodness possible in a clean and sober life or I might have found it years sooner.
Addiction answered all questions and (at the same time) left me clueless as it slowly evaporated me. Going from shunned, isolated and alone in my addiction to my current state of gratitude for inner peace and a quiet solitude in recovery has been a long haul. I couldn't have known that all of a sober life's goodness awaited me. It would not have been possible without finding a place of belonging in recovery first.
We humans are pack animals, like wolves. "Separated from the pack, the chances of survival diminish. Alcoholism is this disease of separation. The alcoholic needs the alcohol to the exclusion of all else. Recovery is largely about rejoining the human race. Connection with self, reconnection with self. Connecting with others, reconnecting. Overcoming alcoholism, the Great Excluder. The irony and paradox of Happy Hour can silence" almost anyone who pauses for a moment to reflect.
The loneliness of an alcoholic death. That's what many of my recollections boil down to. Reciprocity is keeping me sober. Sharing with another alcoholic. It really is that simple. I used to drown the loneliness caused by alcohol with (what else?) more alcohol. Solitude seemed an impossibility when a bottle of booze sat next to me. Alcohol lorded over me and made solitude an impossibility. Loneliness, inescapable. Solitude, unattainable. Sobriety, unimaginable...
It has taken time to still my mind instead of passing out as I used to do. To glide seamlessly from waking consciousness into a blissful night's sleep, waking up refreshed, alert and drug-free. This did not happen overnight and thankfully, I have enjoyed this slow transition. Two months of Transcendental Meditation could not have done this for me. Impetuous youth and alcohol" were a near deadly mix. From barely surviving in addiction to a thriving and blissful recovery.
Two different worlds unimaginably connected.
Books were the axe transitioning me from the frozen sea within me to connections with the human race learned and sustained in my recovery.
Connections with the human race. Everyone has a place. Your table awaits you.
*****
Passages in quotes are excerpted from All Drinking Aside. For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Franz Kafka closes Chapter 58 ("Alcoholism Disconnects, Recovery Connects") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
Chapter 59 Double-Visionary
"Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one." - Eleanor Roosevelt
*****
YES, I have the right to drink, to choose, to live freely, but my obligation to myself is to acknowledge that it is too risky for me to drink. Too many relapses, too many cul-de-sacs, too many near-death experiences.
YES, I've heard the prison door of addiction is always open, but I know when I am behind those bars (or in a bar), my blinders go on and my brain wants more alcohol than my body can handle. My body shuts down as it has before and in the hospital I go, not knowing, usually, how I got there.
When asked, "Would you like a drink?" my response today is "NO. Thanks. Much obliged."
To me, "Drink Responsibly" means 0% Alcohol & 100% Free to be Responsible by being NOT Under the Influence.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Eleanor Roosevelt opens Chapter 59 ("Double-Visionary") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
"The secret of life is to appreciate the pleasure of being terribly, terribly deceived." - Oscar Wilde
*****
Only partly in jest, this dark quote by Oscar Wilde is meant to be discomforting, so I assume. The reader squirms in their chair wondering if it pertains to them. Easily and quickly cast off as merely clever or entertaining, it may be discarded without deep introspection. After all, they are only words meant to beguile them.
My biggest deception was continuing to use alcohol and drugs even after I figured out that using had become a necessity in order to prevent the pain of not using. The drugs deceive us, then we deceive ourselves and others within the tornado created in addiction's grasp. Where once there may have been some form of pleasure in using, drug use continues long after the pleasure has evaporated. "This must be pleasure, mustn't it?" we ask ourselves, knowing that it is no longer pleasurable, if indeed it ever truly was. Again, use to prevent the pain of not using. How very sad, but these are only words, after all.
The twisting and untwisting of Addiction have taken years of my life, both in the active using phase and long into my sustained Recovery. Gratitude is the appreciation of having found another way of living possible.
I am glad to have given this Oscar Wilde quote beyond a passing thought. His ability to be both clever and deep holds me in high regard for his talents.
Whew!
Pause. Reflect. Move on, Life is Good.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Oscar Wilde closes Chapter 59 ("Double-Visionary") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
Chapter 60
"Possibilities and miracles are one and the same." - Anonymous
*****
Recovery is POSSIBLE, DOABLE, IRREPLACEABLE. Addiction, on the other hand, is a SAD DECEPTION. There is nothing Miraculous about Addiction. So when Recovery is found it would be understandable to attribute it to Divine Intervention.
Not much of a believer in miracles myself, I tend to attribute them to facts and forces as yet unexplained. The closest I can come to calling Recovery from Addiction a Miracle is this: A Broken Bone can ever only heal itself to its former state before the break occurs, but in Recovery, we may in the healing process arrive at a place far different than Addiction likely would have led us. We may achieve a level of healing which surpasses the mere reknitting of a broken bone. We may become whole on a level unachievable had we taken a different journey.
The work required to transition successfully from Addiction to Recovery is simply that: WORK.
Work on your Recovery and the "Miracle" of Recovery will manifest itself. Facts and forces as yet unexplained, mortared by epiphanies, if you will, but in the end, work, Work, WORK.
"Possibilities and miracles are one and the same," perhaps. Perhaps. PERHAPS.
Adaptation. Survival. Growth.
Growth is Possible.
*****
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Anonymous opens Chapter 60 ("An Unremembered Emptines") of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
"Hatred is never anything but fear- if you feared no one, you would hate no one." - Hugh Downs
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Hugh Downs Quote here reflects maladaptive relationships (notice he says "no one," not "no thing") between people to me. I take it to mean that the more we know and come to better understand others, the more mutual connections we would form and the less likely we would be to hate them.
Fear of others may be the sensible, justifiable response to some unknown Other based on best guesses and previous experience, but I don't think that's what he's getting at.
If I may Quote and Misquote: Combine "Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You" (from "The King and I") with (here's the misquote from "South Pacific") "Teach Them to Hate Before They Turn Eight" (the lesson being DON'T DO THAT!).
What do you get when you combine my two whimsical, vastly over-generalized and spurious reactions to the Hugh Downs Quote? Basically, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Sorry, I calls 'em like I sees 'em!
[Rebuttals Welcomed!]
******
For an added treat, check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery on Amazon here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
In the meantime, Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal
Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books
All Drinking Aside bookends each of its 90 Chapters with Quotes by the Famous, Infamous & Anonymous.
This Quote by Hugh Downs (pictured) closes Chapter 60 (An Unremembered Emptiness) of All Drinking Aside.
Resolve to read it. Explore your own mind within its pages. Check out the 5 Star Reviews on the Amazon page while you're there: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO
Enjoy BOTH OF THESE BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions Available of Both!)
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