tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22469563002332631272024-03-22T09:58:38.416-04:00All Drinking AsidePlease forgive any usage of images/photos that may be copyrighted or contact me and I will remove immediately. Thank you.Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.comBlogger252125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-297838105456308622024-02-24T09:52:00.003-05:002024-03-22T09:58:05.085-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuwetzhzXqXUD9wMAN3AxP5CLZp_nLheuxfKQE0_Uk2EtFFSMQfoZONiGzJAkx_6aByZfnWKEQv1G_Y5tkeJBsS1fWOnzCP2dNEG6FgEnwYiUlNUOXeN-J-YZBYG1xTmVn_4fmagfzsMkM19p7t4Blyjpor3aIgb2U6HgJ-LV1OhOJqauvKNw8ca5UyI/s616/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20094831.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="616" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuwetzhzXqXUD9wMAN3AxP5CLZp_nLheuxfKQE0_Uk2EtFFSMQfoZONiGzJAkx_6aByZfnWKEQv1G_Y5tkeJBsS1fWOnzCP2dNEG6FgEnwYiUlNUOXeN-J-YZBYG1xTmVn_4fmagfzsMkM19p7t4Blyjpor3aIgb2U6HgJ-LV1OhOJqauvKNw8ca5UyI/s400/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20094831.png"/></a></div>
Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-49669757626208992672023-12-04T06:52:00.095-05:002024-02-08T15:24:33.272-05:002023 YEAR in REVIEW: Pause... Look Back... Hit... REFRESH!"Why is the universe here?
"Why is the universe here? Where else would it be?"
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—Arthur C. Clarke
Sometimes Suicide's Not Suicide at All. It's Addiction Having the Last Word.:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sometimes-suicides-suicide-all-its-addiction-having-last-jim-anders-1e/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
"Isn't ABSTINENCE Enough?" I Once Stood on This Very Ground, Hoping Against Hope to Hear a Resounding "YES!": July 12, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/isnt-abstinence-enough-i-once-stood-very-ground-hoping-jim-anders/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
Blackout Drinkers: Part of my People, Places & Things: July 18, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blackout-drinkers-part-my-people-places-things-jim-anders/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
Relapse is Almost Always Possible Because "Healing May Paper Over the Horror...": September 5, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/relapse-almost-always-possible-because-healing-may-paper-jim-anders/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3Dhttps://www.linkedin.com/pulse/relapse-almost-always-possible-because-healing-may-paper-jim-anders/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
My Choice of Colors, Typeface Choices and Design [All That Good Stuff] Would Convulse My Team of Advertising Designers If They Saw This!: September 13, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-choice-colors-typeface-choices-design-all-good-stuff-jim-anders/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
"Surrender to Win!"? Are They Crazy?!?: November 29, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/surrender-win-crazy-jim-anders-kip0c/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
The Snake Pit of Addiction: December 2, 2023
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/snake-pit-addiction-jim-anders-xjfye/?trackingId=fhYvoCtASUW1a8C9FM7QOA%3D%3D
Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-50541857562543144492023-10-02T10:45:00.033-04:002023-12-04T11:22:07.251-05:00Rough Draft for Future Post<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8kLK5O2zQFka8G1mktp9Il49ld4-DadxU7-46Gfz_EFi_dsljBERliFMtNNcPi8IfH5tip7sbPVfHDCWQJhxMtnGiXELZ2TxyhPGxUl8Qq4U9f9QwZJwAbiLclat464Pr6fvZ-xzvCN8wVjWYAqkq_-8_MGxd1XtMqgEJvMUqZ9vB6matQpI87LM8HU/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-02%20103946.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8kLK5O2zQFka8G1mktp9Il49ld4-DadxU7-46Gfz_EFi_dsljBERliFMtNNcPi8IfH5tip7sbPVfHDCWQJhxMtnGiXELZ2TxyhPGxUl8Qq4U9f9QwZJwAbiLclat464Pr6fvZ-xzvCN8wVjWYAqkq_-8_MGxd1XtMqgEJvMUqZ9vB6matQpI87LM8HU/s400/Screenshot%202023-10-02%20103946.png"/></a></div>
Even when presented all the facts, our interpretation and understanding may be skewed.
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Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-75016017372337728092023-10-02T10:42:00.002-04:002023-10-02T10:42:46.386-04:00An Enduring Classic of Modern Recovery Literature<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfRhyphenhyphenxyA5wfqDMcDrKmtToO7QQvtMuOp5dYgBvMbtPI47acNuoIqllVE5xawjdPTc2h0Z6DZmP9KpnrgRlKzEJHqTwdqvau0BDg7ALz_IF5LB-QjwpIVjAeEfsLLG5D3ne2JMgp-5ToZTgGN-j5tro4K8bvjqmYPsw1ES0EPqSU5e32DjVF24VtmskD0/s790/Screenshot%202023-10-02%20101138.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="790" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfRhyphenhyphenxyA5wfqDMcDrKmtToO7QQvtMuOp5dYgBvMbtPI47acNuoIqllVE5xawjdPTc2h0Z6DZmP9KpnrgRlKzEJHqTwdqvau0BDg7ALz_IF5LB-QjwpIVjAeEfsLLG5D3ne2JMgp-5ToZTgGN-j5tro4K8bvjqmYPsw1ES0EPqSU5e32DjVF24VtmskD0/s320/Screenshot%202023-10-02%20101138.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-12860672160625150412023-09-13T11:10:00.009-04:002023-09-28T09:41:13.765-04:00My Choice of Colors, Typeface Choices and Design [All That Good Stuff] Would Convulse My Team of Advertising Designers If They Saw This!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoRzMKllSv_GNazoKORI-uAmMdOJmarD2I_63z1jjZm_sc6gJcyWfPGvE0tE9U0WvaYueQNr0cYoEOFU06GCTej6qqrJDsJ5OHk59esSmNwq0qg37IWiOfusdvRAfqxKBW0RnPQ3zjOYwZJRRWExQO4MZ9ULktkqLeVZ9hzxpbsM-gSE7RyaKK7vUvPA/s452/Screenshot%202023-09-12%20094519.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoRzMKllSv_GNazoKORI-uAmMdOJmarD2I_63z1jjZm_sc6gJcyWfPGvE0tE9U0WvaYueQNr0cYoEOFU06GCTej6qqrJDsJ5OHk59esSmNwq0qg37IWiOfusdvRAfqxKBW0RnPQ3zjOYwZJRRWExQO4MZ9ULktkqLeVZ9hzxpbsM-gSE7RyaKK7vUvPA/s320/Screenshot%202023-09-12%20094519.png" width="243" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>"Catch Autumn Before It Leaves" [For a Women's Fall Clothing Line] & "Rare Dining Well Done" [For a Restaurant Billboard Advertisement] are among my favorite headlines written during my decades long stint as an Advertising Copywriter.</p><p>The writing skills I developed in the Ad Biz were invaluable assets in writing my first book, ALL DRINKING ASIDE; The Destruction, Deconstruction and Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal.</p><p>Today, September 13, 2023, marks the 10th Anniversary of its publication. </p><p>In celebration thereof, let me share a few of my favorite excerpts with you.</p><p>Feel free to share this post, including the Amazon link to All Drinking Aside.</p><p>Please consider offering it as a gift to any and all.</p><p><b><u>SIX EXCERPTS</u>:</b></p><p><b>I.</b></p><p><i>"My father was a wood carver. He carved ducks out of wood. Like Michelangelo searching for the block of marble that contained the statue he would sculpt, in a block of wood, my father searched for a duck. he had the right tools. He was motivated. He was inspired. </i></p><p><i>For </i><i>years I never had a reason to quit drinking and by the time I had a reason to quit, reason no longer had anything to do with it. I drank for escape and I ended up being unable to escape from drinking. Now, years later, I have found many of the tools of recovery. There are those who have inspired me, motivated me. Slowly, patiently, I must carve the frustration, self-pity and despair out of this block of wood. Carve out the envy, anxiety and intolerance. File down the burrs of hatred, jealousy and resentment. Chisel out the suspicion and sarcasm, the mistrust. Get rid of the apathy, the remorse, the self-deception. Cast out the doubt, the blame, the fear. Scrape out contempt and cynicism. Smooth out the rough edges." </i>- All Drinking Aside, p. 241.</p><p><b>II.</b></p><p><i>"I can remember standing on the front porch of our house with my father when I was maybe ten years old. We lived in a small valley and a few miles away to the west was the rim of the valley. This was called South Mountain. We would catch storms approaching from the other side of the mountain. My father taught me how to predict when the storm would reach us by counting the seconds between when we saw the lightning and when we would hear the thunder. The closer the storm, the less time it takes between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder. It takes a long tie, too, when you first get clean and sober to get a clear picture of reality. Relapse now and you many never hear the thunder and feel the rain was clean the debris of your disease.</i></p><p><i>My father and I stood on the porch. We saw the storm get nearer, saw the lightning, heard the thunder, the dog and cat beneath the couch because they were frightened and did not understand. And then the rain would come down in buckets, the street still hot, giant puddles of water, the steam rising and sometimes, just sometimes, after the storm, we would see a rainbow." </i>- All Drinking Aside, pp. 201 - 202.</p><p><b>III.</b></p><p><i>"Alcohol is my poison, my prison. A brick wall, a trap door, a cancer, a bad joke, an empty bottle, an excuse, a leaky faucet, a loan shark, a broken promise, a cracked mirror, an earthquake, an avalanche, a train wreck, a recurring nightmare.</i></p><p><i>Alcohol is my insanity."</i> - All Drinking Aside, p. 127.</p><p><b>IV.</b></p><p><i>"My brain knows my disease. My brain loves my disease and my brain will never forget my disease because my disease has carved permanent grooves into my brain that no amount of sobriety can ever putty shut. The grooves in my brain lay waiting for me to pick up again so that the grooves can progressively deepen. I must depend on the help of others. Acting alone, I will be devoured by my disease. For addicts, alcohol will devour memories of the past and anxiety about the future, drowning them in the unreal, insane world of addiction. A living lobotomy. A blind man descending a spiral staircase leading to nowhere. No past. No present. No future. Addiction will survive by eating you alive.</i></p><p><i>Now, in recovery, I'm learning how to thrive." </i>- All Drinking Aside, p. 162.</p><p><b>V.</b></p><p><i>"Addiction is godless, headless, insane. It rejects faith, reason, feelings. Addiction is heartless, the blackest night. No light. So sun. No stars. In its nothingness, we feel nothing and accept that nothingness is acceptable and true. 'Cunning. Baffling. Powerful'" </i>- All Drinking Aside, p. 135.</p><p><b>VI.</b></p><p><i>"Loving to drink. Living to drink. Dying to drink. Dying from drinking. This is the progression of alcoholism. Wanting to live. Learning to live. Loving to live. Living with love. This is the progression of recovery." </i>- All Drinking Aside, p, 252.</p><p>*****</p><p>May you find your own favorite passages within the pages of ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction and Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal.</p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-16590927052458140372023-09-09T10:36:00.003-04:002023-09-11T09:54:11.473-04:00Do Your Best!<p> Like an inactive volcano always ready to spew forth, my addictions, like my cancer, are in remission. </p><p>The Best I Can Do is to Do My Best!</p><p>Do Your Best! Read:</p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqef7YB67poFbAA6y8Hhk1D7KzmNghd69gPacURqtJxgbskE-_4FnWW7lfwt2mf9wAP-pzuHtU1QttRPedvvL4WAK5p-O8C2CjZr0awGyCWFpFzG_MaUU7qtGqxbX1mwNxBXZADGf8nBH3kR-HBqlCaPU5jRyYD2khQqz7JBRQpLYdHF9FvtS3yZtO5I/s738/Screenshot%202023-09-09%20103459.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="738" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqef7YB67poFbAA6y8Hhk1D7KzmNghd69gPacURqtJxgbskE-_4FnWW7lfwt2mf9wAP-pzuHtU1QttRPedvvL4WAK5p-O8C2CjZr0awGyCWFpFzG_MaUU7qtGqxbX1mwNxBXZADGf8nBH3kR-HBqlCaPU5jRyYD2khQqz7JBRQpLYdHF9FvtS3yZtO5I/s320/Screenshot%202023-09-09%20103459.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></span><p></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-46335682196574117592023-09-02T10:03:00.006-04:002023-09-06T11:17:59.015-04:00 CELEBRATE $4.00 OFF List Price with this Special 10th Anniversary Offer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYiIB-oQ2LG26LW_V52FIQ13S4ukInXChXsaK_H-xCZcKCWj4bNkn6uc6n7C0iU8Ir_nAaN66E-scU2Dt6TcZdh7SlbNXfp6dLq2K7CS9yc8dglZLhkEhNXU23bSZgzSRCGQc1lzVToXQMGyo311FGyXCIxOF-gjmXfGwc1Qfig5rCAu3QC-kBDSvxzhM/s787/1693317535024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="787" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYiIB-oQ2LG26LW_V52FIQ13S4ukInXChXsaK_H-xCZcKCWj4bNkn6uc6n7C0iU8Ir_nAaN66E-scU2Dt6TcZdh7SlbNXfp6dLq2K7CS9yc8dglZLhkEhNXU23bSZgzSRCGQc1lzVToXQMGyo311FGyXCIxOF-gjmXfGwc1Qfig5rCAu3QC-kBDSvxzhM/s320/1693317535024.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit;" /><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Find it on Amazon. Book it here: </span><a data-attribute-index="0" href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;" target="_self">https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit;" /><a data-attribute-index="1" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=alcoholism&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7102288515446517760" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;">#alcoholism</a><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a data-attribute-index="2" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=addiction&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7102288515446517760" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;">#addiction</a><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a data-attribute-index="3" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=recovery&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7102288515446517760" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;">#recovery</a><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span><a data-attribute-index="4" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=books&highlightedUpdateUrns=urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7102288515446517760" style="background-color: white; border: var(--artdeco-reset-link-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: var(--font-weight-bold); line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); overflow-wrap: normal; padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); position: relative; text-decoration: var(--artdeco-reset-link-text-decoration-none); touch-action: manipulation; vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline); word-break: normal;">#books</a><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: inherit;" /><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Five Dozen+ Five ***** Star Reviews</span><div><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-27945077542730173062023-08-31T10:28:00.003-04:002023-08-31T10:28:45.331-04:00Coming Soon<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C-ssligD4CDdWFnzqKQNp_OpZD-ecE52mkRBqCrMjSsDHwB2O7eA-7cmXX59tjGy08LAU7oejMAivhWM9k-ziPefycDsEgW9DfdrozFqa6nBr1e_UG5-bpopWvysWFvuYalUw0Kn66pvI89bK5zB9H_XZVFTGDRlGakZTuDm7YJ5-CX11_cENTQUA9w/s744/Screenshot%202023-08-31%20102614.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="744" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C-ssligD4CDdWFnzqKQNp_OpZD-ecE52mkRBqCrMjSsDHwB2O7eA-7cmXX59tjGy08LAU7oejMAivhWM9k-ziPefycDsEgW9DfdrozFqa6nBr1e_UG5-bpopWvysWFvuYalUw0Kn66pvI89bK5zB9H_XZVFTGDRlGakZTuDm7YJ5-CX11_cENTQUA9w/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-31%20102614.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />In the Meantime, Read:<p></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-71914124807300639812023-08-13T11:57:00.006-04:002023-08-14T10:28:44.931-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAoeWXMHFNo1X3F8rVde0wVGmOkmY7kwCdQb3SPxjsnZiGkiLS6a3RsSsEwsJL17dQyLcsnX2uDM1RPkjs1CW5iFzdESkk-5OJxssjML0cLFiA00EC-cnePgO3JwRdcRkgrC__XyRQQ7Z7XKcyGvVjnDqiMR-SZAzN4XmW-7ta8E4LfaiFBBsSFA3RmY/s588/Screenshot%202023-08-14%20095054.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="588" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuAoeWXMHFNo1X3F8rVde0wVGmOkmY7kwCdQb3SPxjsnZiGkiLS6a3RsSsEwsJL17dQyLcsnX2uDM1RPkjs1CW5iFzdESkk-5OJxssjML0cLFiA00EC-cnePgO3JwRdcRkgrC__XyRQQ7Z7XKcyGvVjnDqiMR-SZAzN4XmW-7ta8E4LfaiFBBsSFA3RmY/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-14%20095054.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Alcohol is a Poison. *</p><p>I am a Man.</p><p>In my case, Man + Poison equaled being caught in a never-ending maze, nearly killing me.</p><p>For thirty years, from the age of 16 to 46, I drank daily. By the age of 25 I was a full-blown alcoholic who suffered near-daily blackouts and rarely, if ever, consumed less than 5 alcoholic beverages, usually much more each and every day.</p><p>Binge-drinking was the new norm and had become totally acceptable to me.</p><p>By my third decade of daily drinking, accidents, hospitals, detoxes, rehabs, firings, evictions, on and on.</p><p>DO THE MATH: 781 gallons of alcohol divided by 30 years of daily drinking = an average consumption rate around 9.1 ounces of alcohol per day, not an unreasonable amount by any estimate.</p><p>I will stand by the pictured statement: "MAN GUZZLES More Than 781 GALLONS of POISON and Lives to Tell"*</p><p>*****</p><p>Read my book. Here's the link. Check out the 60+ Five Star Reader Reviews:</p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p><p>*Alcohol is a drug and works on the brain and other body parts which may cause unwanted symptoms, poisoning and even death. </p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-26009655311964244902023-08-11T10:12:00.000-04:002023-08-11T10:12:15.739-04:00Solitary Confinement?<p>Mostly Solitary.</p><p>Mostly Confined.</p><p>For 30 years, I drank and drugged every day.</p><p>That's over 10,000 days and in excess of 50,000 drinks.</p><p>The past is part of me. The future is part of my clean and sober self today.</p><p>The Fever has Broken.</p><p>Today, I am Free.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23I1UUP1AI4I6&keywords=All+drinking+aside&qid=1691763023&s=books&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Cstripbooks%2C64&sr=1-1">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23I1UUP1AI4I6&keywords=All+drinking+aside&qid=1691763023&s=books&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Cstripbooks%2C64&sr=1-1</a><br /></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-10496924452867398222023-08-07T10:04:00.004-04:002023-08-09T12:37:10.455-04:00Untwisting "The Twisties"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyioppITpFswyPSkbo8xkE6Tglg42RgtjEWDS3lla5_PQk5tpWokqYSgvqdes85lHIarH3tv09b-mA3PiAjANVxgdFBXaz-0lHuTysMz1lDWhKAPUn8A6hLqD8mUvEpvpSaETfciCoUturO4DhGWUUpyZy5lAG4_Zohf7CVfRxHH9hdN_7OWzcMdyoe4/s672/Screenshot%202023-08-07%20100006.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="672" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyioppITpFswyPSkbo8xkE6Tglg42RgtjEWDS3lla5_PQk5tpWokqYSgvqdes85lHIarH3tv09b-mA3PiAjANVxgdFBXaz-0lHuTysMz1lDWhKAPUn8A6hLqD8mUvEpvpSaETfciCoUturO4DhGWUUpyZy5lAG4_Zohf7CVfRxHH9hdN_7OWzcMdyoe4/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-07%20100006.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Let's face it: My Fears were mostly Known Unknowns. <div>I knew I didn't want to be known.</div><div>I did not know if I would be accepted or if I could accept myself.</div><div>I knew I was hiding myself behind my addictions, despite not calling them addictions at the time.</div><div>I knew I liked to drink. I knew I liked to drug. I knew I liked to party.</div><div><i>"Here's looking at you,"</i> that oft heard toast to an uncertain extent really meant <i>"Here's not looking at me,"</i> despite all the I-I-I's detailed above.</div><div>Like Renowned Gymnast Simone Biles's Case of "The Twisties," physical and mental deterioration walked beside me in my slow-motion descent into the hell that is addiction.</div><div>Here's how Google summarizes Simone's fall from grace: <i>"Biles's competition future was in doubt after she dropped out of the Tokyo Olympics after suffering a case of the 'twisties,' a spatial disorientation neurological problem that forced her to take herself out of multiple events in Japan."</i></div><div>Similarly, and divergently, my Professional Drinking Career came to an end.</div><div>Addiction, to alcohol and other substances, was crippling me, if not downright killing me.</div><div>Juggernaut or Astronaut, I was good-for-naught and would have to be grounded. No more being higher than a kite searching for the moon. No more blackouts, pass outs and coming to. </div><div>Coming to had come to almost dying, almost dead. </div><div>No more brief sabbaticals to restore my body for another brief or long-term onslaught. </div><div>No more More. </div><div>Something so simple as being who you are was not so simple for me after all.</div><div>Being responsible came to mean asking for help.</div><div>Shared Courage.</div><div>No more cases of <i>"The Twisties."</i></div><div>No more bottomless days and empty bottles.</div><div>No more Professional Drinking Career.</div><div>More courage. Shared Courage. More of this. Less of that. Untwisting "The Twisties.":</div><div>"Nothing matters more than that we remain sober because when we remain sober everything matters more."</div><div>Be Responsible. Untwist "The Twisties."</div><div>Cheers!</div><div>*****</div><div><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Also #enjoy <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-44825387241079737882023-08-02T11:52:00.054-04:002023-09-26T10:27:21.209-04:00BEING BOTH (rough draft/incomplete)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvePcskv9dRWjiJJoEljGOJSCBF9UyUkckRvKyWeeaZIfCxlBEpOVvv8TEVzN5LQF8XzOm5Mrrj6efWOrI1ro_uGXeBYcnAz06Kc7X3vomVNIEsRu-JvqNnU8GDGkuYVSIRIC1pNSi9X0-5WkSe3FeylB3wrfckoz4kxyWevy6oYEGaOQOlSjkk649K0/s200/1689406621878.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvePcskv9dRWjiJJoEljGOJSCBF9UyUkckRvKyWeeaZIfCxlBEpOVvv8TEVzN5LQF8XzOm5Mrrj6efWOrI1ro_uGXeBYcnAz06Kc7X3vomVNIEsRu-JvqNnU8GDGkuYVSIRIC1pNSi9X0-5WkSe3FeylB3wrfckoz4kxyWevy6oYEGaOQOlSjkk649K0/s1600/1689406621878.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>"Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes)"</i> - Walt Whitman, <i>Leaves of Grass</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">BEING BOTH is a work of introspection in nine parts. I, YOU, WE ARE ALL THESE THINGS in groupings of two, three or twenty. These nine posts are based upon an image of nine Venn Diagrams attributed to Young Minds, the UK's leading mental health charity for young people which I discovered recently on my LinkedIn feed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">See them as I saw them at the top of my August 2, 2023 post here: <a href="https://alldrinkingaside.blogspot.com/2023/08/9-venn.html">https://alldrinkingaside.blogspot.com/2023/08/9-venn.html</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">[Please note that this is a work in progress and will undergo changes large and small as I move forward] </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">STRUCTURE has been such a huge part of my Recovery. Looking at the subtitle to my first book, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction and Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal, you will see that<i> "Structure"</i> is hidden in plain sight three times in the subtitle alone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Much of my progress has been through looking in the rear-view mirror.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If this is your first reading, bear with me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are Woodworkers and there are Word-Workers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am the latter. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rarely is my writing once and done. Likewise, when reading a book, especially poetry, my view is refined with each revisit. Each exposure deepens my appreciation. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nuance is not a one-night stand with me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Woodworkers and Word Workers are constantly refining their craft.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reader Response will help me chisel away at this rough pile of nine stones, so it may begin to look more like Mount Rushmore and less like the debris on this word-sculptor's floor. Any suggestions or reflections of your own on the subjects presented are greatly appreciated.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Enough already.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let us begin:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">1. <u>Capable & Lost</u>:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Lost. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I must speak of being lost first. The word <i>'Lost'</i> is not far from <i>'Loss'</i> in the dictionary, and in my life.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Lost. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Unable to find my way home, to a home, to myself, somewhere safe, sane and known. Somewhere, anywhere, home.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Addiction crippled me.<br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Yet I always somehow did find my way to my physical home, my third-floor apartment in the early days of my drinking career. If home were only about our geographical space, we've got GPS for that. But what about lost in the Spiritual sense, or Lost Identity, a human being lost?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><i>"Lights on, but nobody's home"</i> once applied to me. And rightly so.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><i>"Nothing another drink couldn't fix"</i> was my subliminal knee-jerk reaction to anything, everything. </span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><i>"Nothing another drink couldn't fix"</i> o</span><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">r break. Or shatter. Or lose.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Lost. <br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Bus. Jitney. Taxi. Walk. No matter the way, I was Lost in Space, in a far less entertaining way than the mid-'60's TV Show of the same name. Nothing funny. Nothing admirable. Everywhere, nowhere, Lost in Space. Drunk. High. Stoned. Addicted.<br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Addiction took me off course from whatever direction my life may have been taking when I was a teenager. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Much, most, can never be recovered. Maybe saying <i>"I am in recovery"</i> isn't the best way to express it. It's a little inaccurate and doesn't reflect the better than new reality of what recovery has brought and that may continue to bring to me. Who knows where I would have landed had I not had that first of over 50,000 drinks?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Moot point. Undoing 50.000 drinks is an impossibility. Living in recovery is doable, possible, irreplaceable. </span></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We are all in recovery. In recovery from a drug, a habit, a relationship, from ourselves. We are all in recovery in the sense that with each step we regain our balance and move forward. All this, of course, much simpler when we are not under the influence of some drug. I am becoming free of my addictions and capable of living on solid ground. Each step is indeed a balancing act. My life is not some clown car now. I live and breathe recovery.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now if I am lost, I am literally lost and it feels nothing the same as being in the addiction game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am capable of recovery. I am capable in recovery. I am capable, even when lost. I can find the solutions to dissipate any temporary sense of being lonely or lost. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Purposeful living.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Capable and lost? I can be both.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recovery is my Awesome Sauce, a tired slang expression, to be sure, but I am in it to win it, so slang be dang!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Capable and lost?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sounds about right. Feels good. I'll drink to that. A sparkling cider, if you please.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>"Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes)"</i> - Walt Whitman, <i>Leaves of Grass</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">[Part 2, Being Both: Smiling & Struggling, Coming Soon. Stay Tuned] <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1fJFLwAGLBUAXqCgfZXE4I0PIXh3WlAG8300OGxwu65Pumnsitjw92ZLZWpg4GHmJXkPA3UONGIRqYPbMEvpK6ayTU2EubNkXSAu7OcHdpLTaovalXF9HUD5Bs1cUZ0cfIoGbcOZAtNF4TQtnsL45Yv_xX8nmeKV7tt3Wy5O9G4A0I2DTVzF8m_z5ys/s580/Screenshot%202023-08-15%20102030.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="580" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1fJFLwAGLBUAXqCgfZXE4I0PIXh3WlAG8300OGxwu65Pumnsitjw92ZLZWpg4GHmJXkPA3UONGIRqYPbMEvpK6ayTU2EubNkXSAu7OcHdpLTaovalXF9HUD5Bs1cUZ0cfIoGbcOZAtNF4TQtnsL45Yv_xX8nmeKV7tt3Wy5O9G4A0I2DTVzF8m_z5ys/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-15%20102030.png" width="320" /></a></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">2. <u>Smiling & Struggling</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Smiling in anxiety, smiling in depression. Literal masks disfiguring the struggle behind these false fronts</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">An iota of empathy, perhaps an overdose of it: I have felt both, been both. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">A smile can help or hurt. It's situational.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Corn.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">The word itself usually brings a smile.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Corny. More likely. More smiley.<br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Corn Corny:.. Smile ear to ear.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">A genuine smile reduces blood pressure, increases endurance and may help to reduce stress. A weak or forced smile when asked how I was doing in my addiction was more often than not a mask to disguise my true feelings of loss and hopelessness [See <b>BEING BOTH</b>: <span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">1. <u>Capable & Lost]</u></span>. Definitely not a blood pressure reducer or good for either stress or endurance. Ultimately, addiction seems to have added to any problems and slowed my progress in achieving solutions. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Life is not easy under any conditions. Some days harder than others. Addiction is harder than living clean and sober. Illness casts a veil over perceptions. When I am ill, the world is not so rosy appearing. Ill health colors my view of the world.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Surrender, waving the white flag to addiction, admitting that <i>"I am powerless over alcohol and my life had become unmanageable,"</i> although the seeming solution, felt impossible in the thick of it until recovery had a firmer grasp on me than addiction did. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Strive on Fellow Travelers. My mind's eye sees a sailor struggling with the ropes to maintain an even keel, teeth gritting in the grapple. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Call this a smile.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Call this a struggle.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Strive on Fellow Travelers. Life is good. Smiling and struggling, strive on. <br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZVq5wIV4i1X8qLkLiozybLvBHUzx1lAbK3v-8m1ZIsOJHxcfp32-qm1tqA1-Pov3svpbyt6OVTaryZQGK8WCy-njR3XQYtaPtgRH74gzBiD04sFAicecrBlYny0uO8bgKApFsqFS6KdhDVu6ao1gsaKxtP9wpCjr2pliMifdb937NzgtlVVoSBQW_rI/s512/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20124223.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="512" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZVq5wIV4i1X8qLkLiozybLvBHUzx1lAbK3v-8m1ZIsOJHxcfp32-qm1tqA1-Pov3svpbyt6OVTaryZQGK8WCy-njR3XQYtaPtgRH74gzBiD04sFAicecrBlYny0uO8bgKApFsqFS6KdhDVu6ao1gsaKxtP9wpCjr2pliMifdb937NzgtlVVoSBQW_rI/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20124223.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">3. <u>Kind & Setting Boundaries</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">I have a mean streak. Don't cross my boundaries or I will likely lash out. Setting boundaries is building fences, closing doors and windows, closing your clam shell and hiding within it.<br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it. It can be harsh, unintended or not. Did something that happened to me in the third grade, for example, which still colors my world decades later? </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">I don't think so. It doesn't feel that what. But how would I know? Self-truth can be slow to present itself.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><i>"Mistaking Kindness for Weakness"</i> was not my creation. It lives and breathes on its own. Abuse is a fuel. <i>"Hurt People Hurt People,"</i> but that cannot be an excuse or permission for inappropriate response to your kindness.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Set Boundaries.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Kindness has its limits.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Mankind doesn't quite capture it, yet Humankind somehow does.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Kindness defines our species. But so does Hatred, Rage and Revenge.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">I will continue setting boundaries for self-protection, and, occasionally, to protect others from me. We protect ourselves and each other. Protection is kindness. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Let kindness bloom within us, between us. Let it be boundless within the boundaries we must set to allow its continuation.<br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92_xWXXCqz12rg9FoDQ-RBHxXquCv10CUZT8QV7AxYaol-ArWviI1DKrFu_wry1JY-XaRMS3tzgGmJajnLZ84rBEadIYbGKQ-YQRrkm0iUEWJxTo9p7ZCX98zDT1xUfOS00zhHEBOYNonhCT3elwMQGVej8UBxhgie2N8_Pdm8dLsN-4Dr3jDEnrPcW8/s526/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20125038.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="526" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92_xWXXCqz12rg9FoDQ-RBHxXquCv10CUZT8QV7AxYaol-ArWviI1DKrFu_wry1JY-XaRMS3tzgGmJajnLZ84rBEadIYbGKQ-YQRrkm0iUEWJxTo9p7ZCX98zDT1xUfOS00zhHEBOYNonhCT3elwMQGVej8UBxhgie2N8_Pdm8dLsN-4Dr3jDEnrPcW8/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20125038.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">4. <u>Vulnerable & Powerful</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Others may see that I can be taken advantage of. I may fear losing out on possibly deepening relationships by building walls of protection unnecessarily [See <b>BEING BOTH</b>: 3. <u>Kind & Setting Boundaries</u>] Power plays and vulnerability play a part in personal and business transactions. Vulnerability can be powerful. In fact, power without vulnerability veers on abuse.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">In a work situation, power over others may border on Master and Slave. Wield power wisely if you have it. So much of this being human thing is touch and go. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Or don't touch and don't go.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">The longer I remain in recovery from addiction, the more I seem willing to lay down the gauntlet and be open to pleasure where I once hid within my own pain.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Everything has its limits. My vulnerability vacillates. In danger, at risk, unprotected, being vulnerable can be a scary place to be. Weighing the likelihood of being hurt against the possibilities of connection and growth. Being in touch with who you are, who you aren't, as well as the perceived judgement of others. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Yes. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Judgement has a place. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Doing the math of being emotionally well-balanced is both and art and a science. I trusted my drug dealer though, didn't I?</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">This recovery thing is a whole new life. Learning from real life mistakes can be very expensive. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Being invulnerable is not an option. That is for Greek Gods and Philosophers beyond my ken. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHY8Ng0WGYMxVT3nT8toRGRkoZxRygFUHLwnLzSIk4LLaq3cO7Vmgqv6rMbclzh_6J483RLx4jMxCkkjm9pyAvIcoSZG5EBTIC_E8aJ6-TygJpLKW4OaE78FX-QdcI3LWrJHijoH0OKYXMde2jGeFcK06jiUVMPUghPI-SEtsN3QL5DEVCeNOD5ZhFWSk/s444/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20125719.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="444" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHY8Ng0WGYMxVT3nT8toRGRkoZxRygFUHLwnLzSIk4LLaq3cO7Vmgqv6rMbclzh_6J483RLx4jMxCkkjm9pyAvIcoSZG5EBTIC_E8aJ6-TygJpLKW4OaE78FX-QdcI3LWrJHijoH0OKYXMde2jGeFcK06jiUVMPUghPI-SEtsN3QL5DEVCeNOD5ZhFWSk/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20125719.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">5. <u>Successful & Traumatized</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">By outside measure, I might be regarded as a relative failure. Thirty years of daily drinking and drugging most certainly changed my chances to succeed in the world of power, money and possessions.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">But I possess myself today (not self-possessed, that, a horse of a different color).</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Being at the top of my game is one of the positive results of overcoming "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." Addiction bestowed wo much of that on me. Talk about making matters worse: any and all addictive substances. Life can be painful and feel so unfair without addiction being thrown into the mix. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">"Why me?" eventually served me little to no purpose. Life as it is must be dealt with, all drinking aside, lol</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Success against all odds, including decades of traumatic experiences, would become mine, an inside job.. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">No one ever said it would be easy. Life is difficult, traumatic and seemingly insurmountable at times [See <b>BEING BOTH</b>: 4. <u>Vulnerable & Powerful</u>].</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">By now, you must have noticed that all these <b>BEING BOTH</b> posts have a snowballing effect. Vulnerable, powerful, successful, traumatized. All of these, all of these, all of these, All.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Like building a snowman, I would have to build my own life in recovery out of the remaining flakes of self that survived my avalanche of addiction.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGyI3BGt9jkrLdSy0JnU7-xQeveiWGFXS0t09D5ougw4WPr9_1rqzrHZV6dOAFaCVXNfOaG_VYqmwrtbYFwlehMAlQnAEVeBVfS4moZW_6R1OSN_-CgEMa2ULJ_P1nOUDbfhVzDWOOZjfGs9TZLMK0Xf-p55ciZhaAY15eQaQ66nL3bFk9o_MiwALNiU/s456/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20130630.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="456" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJGyI3BGt9jkrLdSy0JnU7-xQeveiWGFXS0t09D5ougw4WPr9_1rqzrHZV6dOAFaCVXNfOaG_VYqmwrtbYFwlehMAlQnAEVeBVfS4moZW_6R1OSN_-CgEMa2ULJ_P1nOUDbfhVzDWOOZjfGs9TZLMK0Xf-p55ciZhaAY15eQaQ66nL3bFk9o_MiwALNiU/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-16%20130630.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">6. <u>Extrovert & Alone</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">From years of being a food server and bartender, I have learned well that the more I turn on the charm, the more money I will have in tips at the end of each shift. My job description was to make my guests feel happier and welcomed when they walked through the door. Many, and in fact most jobs require a performance. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">As best stated by Shakespeare, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." As I've stated elsewhere, "I am the actor who portrays me. Alcohol is the thug who betrayed me."</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">"All the world's a stage... " indeed.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Behind the bar, easily, the mask of acting like a good friend and a psychoanalyst were tools of the trade.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><i>"The tears of a clown"</i> comes to mind, not so much now, but in my drinking days, for sure.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Reaching out, then being rejected, has set be back on numerous occasions. Sometimes it seems the world simply will not let me share. "Go back in your shell" they seem to say sometimes. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Striking a balance between my introversion and extroversion is a high-wire act at times. I don't need a drink or drug to break me out of my shell. Totally alone and undeniably connected is where I find myself today.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">We are all works in progress!</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIpVgDqtg24f0a9luhYRhUylBfCe3ySxUzOIgMEnYfS2G5rX9g2ADcP4I62KuzjGPYcY6V3kS_XvRBbtLuC48PaZ90UshNShnnvMe06aL4soDYcUhmgdcVRlwoPMvUZUrKL_Xrgo9X4BHNYE4XPzKv1wWIfrC4zbmlOzHWb2FxPLlnFcMOkIeS5MIuKs/s455/Screenshot%202023-09-11%20104211.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="455" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIpVgDqtg24f0a9luhYRhUylBfCe3ySxUzOIgMEnYfS2G5rX9g2ADcP4I62KuzjGPYcY6V3kS_XvRBbtLuC48PaZ90UshNShnnvMe06aL4soDYcUhmgdcVRlwoPMvUZUrKL_Xrgo9X4BHNYE4XPzKv1wWIfrC4zbmlOzHWb2FxPLlnFcMOkIeS5MIuKs/s320/Screenshot%202023-09-11%20104211.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">7. <u>Valuable & Flawed</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Value is like a six-sided word to me. So many meanings to me. I value friendships and emotions for which no value can be assigned. Deep down, value is those things that bring meaning to my life. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7GhEDcf5PUeFKyAvUs7IfwlFrYpjdRVzvsZI4DzZvdS3Fy5GjQQVVk-9fulRoyp0SiQC8KgjJm_XxYE5nQfqc5PXsYTCSoUo6UJHKOQeMusWGtJZ1wd_jP3DsNBLuD5dymmnqwm2n9z5HiZDln8HDkaRzsAPUM1vbSJg3dFPgMg5bjeavHf0WXph_9l4/s457/Screenshot%202023-08-17%20100041.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="276" data-original-width="457" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7GhEDcf5PUeFKyAvUs7IfwlFrYpjdRVzvsZI4DzZvdS3Fy5GjQQVVk-9fulRoyp0SiQC8KgjJm_XxYE5nQfqc5PXsYTCSoUo6UJHKOQeMusWGtJZ1wd_jP3DsNBLuD5dymmnqwm2n9z5HiZDln8HDkaRzsAPUM1vbSJg3dFPgMg5bjeavHf0WXph_9l4/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-17%20100041.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">8. <u>Introvert & Reaching Out</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Open arms are not my strength. I am cautious, overly so at times. <i>"Life touches us all,"</i> is how I've heard it expressed in Recovery Meetings. Having experienced pain, loss and rejection, self-protection cuts me off from what otherwise may have been positive experiences. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Life is a crap-shoot. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><i>"The Friendly Introvert" </i>undoubtedly could be the title of my next book. There are already books with similar titles, so I guess there must be many of us.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Addiction severed my ties with humanity. Addiction crowds out what were once People, Places and Things and you (by which of course I mean "I") are left with nothing.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">In a certain way, Recovery forced me to open myself up to sharing the human experience.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtrCs4rufqAOzgfFgdztcAXu9XKeYM68eA8i0L5zYBs-CwhrgYR_6H37TbU_uP4d1QsdyONtP7mHOAOJiQBhe39XuyQLWBJPB-_79rnWv6yVpQoLATrx0HzRpu6aTwO_oQ_-_gElHmPRUSvmVQGY5Fo7t4mMFJoNA8q99lIlr7LQgkQcBeIYvhfdDrF-k/s474/Screenshot%202023-08-17%20100640.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="474" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtrCs4rufqAOzgfFgdztcAXu9XKeYM68eA8i0L5zYBs-CwhrgYR_6H37TbU_uP4d1QsdyONtP7mHOAOJiQBhe39XuyQLWBJPB-_79rnWv6yVpQoLATrx0HzRpu6aTwO_oQ_-_gElHmPRUSvmVQGY5Fo7t4mMFJoNA8q99lIlr7LQgkQcBeIYvhfdDrF-k/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-17%20100640.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">9. <u>Loving & Questioning</u>:</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Loving, and questioning my love, of self, of others. Life is such a mixed bag. </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">I have to go back now and number these damned Posts as I may refer to one or the other and I try to untie the mess and the message of all 9.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Damn! I didn't even realize this was the 9th until I numbered them.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">Lol. As you can see, I'm not a master of any of them.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"> </div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;">My experience is shared here, hoping to expand them all by your varied thoughts and perceptions on #9 or any of the other 8 that precede it.</div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKdGi4UmCZvt9_DYVZHVAlfEqtB7KmNNRMSrLW_ZvqWiRJAQ_7JmKa_DizRmjnzPVzRFdtae-Jq_UtEHkFpdjSIGiBxDun7YM9SmvIfgE2RT3Q-Z7_PuuQx0fS97lTVg4xO1R_ze6OxL2lJ-Fg0dRnDjDEzqa2kLn4p9sXo7nSe4BuNQ7sQJJkmryYKQ/s452/Screenshot%202023-08-17%20101326.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="452" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKdGi4UmCZvt9_DYVZHVAlfEqtB7KmNNRMSrLW_ZvqWiRJAQ_7JmKa_DizRmjnzPVzRFdtae-Jq_UtEHkFpdjSIGiBxDun7YM9SmvIfgE2RT3Q-Z7_PuuQx0fS97lTVg4xO1R_ze6OxL2lJ-Fg0dRnDjDEzqa2kLn4p9sXo7nSe4BuNQ7sQJJkmryYKQ/s320/Screenshot%202023-08-17%20101326.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Possible 10:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>BEING BOTH</b>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u>Bored & Grateful</u>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Alone</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bored</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Capable</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Extroverted</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Flawed</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Grateful</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Introverted</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kind</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lost</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Loving</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Powerful</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Questioning</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Reaching out</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Setting Boundaries</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Smiling</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Struggling</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Successful</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Traumatized</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Valuable</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Vulnerable</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">[add from ada saved carve out quote]</div><div><br /></div><br /><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; outline: none;"><br /></div><p></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-89374982067216095582023-07-24T09:56:00.007-04:002023-08-10T10:15:45.471-04:00Anxiety-iety-I<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIDDHDt908vfepfYWXrmqXObmR4yucbTRCDVDXwH5cPSIdDEI7011mS_MKiTY8I9Ob1hlVWovuj8L3Klo0kVh363q-IMqz8SzUiSiQ7829FZypU3K2JiMXH0Dqivbu4gSVLBiZ9Ea10Sy2RqWrbnxaGJi7F8r7SKrgPM-YNzyh5ul34PdIqznQaZAdXg/s664/Screenshot%202023-07-24%20095321.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="664" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIDDHDt908vfepfYWXrmqXObmR4yucbTRCDVDXwH5cPSIdDEI7011mS_MKiTY8I9Ob1hlVWovuj8L3Klo0kVh363q-IMqz8SzUiSiQ7829FZypU3K2JiMXH0Dqivbu4gSVLBiZ9Ea10Sy2RqWrbnxaGJi7F8r7SKrgPM-YNzyh5ul34PdIqznQaZAdXg/s320/Screenshot%202023-07-24%20095321.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Fires won't stop the flooding. </div><div>Icebergs won't quell the heat.</div><div>Suffering is everywhere</div><div>and</div><div>I feel beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rock. Paper. Scissors.</div><div>Rice. Corn. Beans.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anxiety-iety-I...</div><div>I cannot fly.</div><div>Anxiety-iety-I...</div><div>I cannot fly.</div><div><br /></div><div>Doors open.</div><div>Light enters.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am becoming me.</div><div>Tea to be served much later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rice. Corn. Beans.</div><div><br /></div><div>No rock. No paper. No scissors.</div><div>Anxiety-iety-I </div><div>Let it fly. Let it fly. Let it fly.</div><div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">*****</div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><p style="font-size: 14.3px;">Also #enjoy <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></p><p style="font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span></p></div></div><div><br /></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-28242486990206628572023-07-12T15:04:00.004-04:002023-07-12T15:08:19.679-04:00"Isn't ABSTINENCE Enough?" I Once Stood on This Very Ground, Hoping Against Hope to Hear a Resounding "YES!"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdP1uz92hGdSuh9ESl1JY8znASgvjkjxM5jiRGyMn41Gdf0gDZoIOfSkKxZ_X6aFqe0rF2iUDUky9_hTJ0qbvTbpYqfH2yCQVpchEhyNm3smU4RD4JUiY49sotLRVS5KrT1oDb4s45bog5Qm-TIirUNS2HK6yA0xYYOO5xw8S-qCtEJVhZkyYWK8Kka7Q/s561/Screenshot%202023-06-26%20100145.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="561" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdP1uz92hGdSuh9ESl1JY8znASgvjkjxM5jiRGyMn41Gdf0gDZoIOfSkKxZ_X6aFqe0rF2iUDUky9_hTJ0qbvTbpYqfH2yCQVpchEhyNm3smU4RD4JUiY49sotLRVS5KrT1oDb4s45bog5Qm-TIirUNS2HK6yA0xYYOO5xw8S-qCtEJVhZkyYWK8Kka7Q/s320/Screenshot%202023-06-26%20100145.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>After 8 years of my not very successful attempts to remain sober, I asked a new-found friend, Mac, with decades of Recovery under his belt something along the lines of <i>"if I just don't drink, won't that be enough for me to stay sober?"</i></p><p>He chuckled as if I were a child telling a schoolyard joke.</p><p><i>"No, Jim. Nature abhors a vacuum."</i></p><p>He paused before continuing, as if he were waiting for me to be swallowed up by the quicksand of the absurdity of my question. His left eyebrow raised an almost imperceptible degree, suggesting, let this sink in:<i> "You will have to replace the behavior you are trying to change with positive thoughts, behaviors and actions in the direction of recovery." </i></p><p>He closed with <i>"Doing Nothing is NEVER an Option!"</i></p><p>To their own detriment, many people wish to remain fiercely independent. After 30 years of being dependent on drugs, I certainly did not want to turn around and become dependent on others to help me break my dependence on drugs, did I?</p><p>Or did I?</p><p>I didn't want to. I had to. I had no other choice. I was powerless over my addiction and my life was unmanageable. Geez, I wonder where I got that idea? Lol :-)</p><p><i>"Jim. Nature abhors a vacuum."</i></p><p>Fill your life with Recovery. And nothing less. </p><p><i>"Nothing matters more than that we remain sober because when we remain sober everything matters more."</i></p><p>Abstinence isn't enough. </p><p>Vacuum filled.</p><p>Recovery fulfilled: Happy. Content. Gratified. Serene.</p><p>*****</p><p>Also #enjoy <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.3px;">Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Find it on Amazon. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here:</span> <a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #10435d; text-decoration-line: none; white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a></p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</p><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-58029531959896549872023-06-17T10:10:00.001-04:002023-06-17T10:10:38.773-04:00From Addiction's Insanity to Mental Wellness is "a long and winding road."<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGsQoiLChO86sDn9PtGW-SaPxfGugS3hnrVasCfUDXSD2d3FS_7_h9uL5TVXcxVGLTWODf5vba3fs0bpqYK86iyR1FpTxx-8rHFEPUaXqiva4DJdJeEPi83SXiCFXAh5pKHPkCwtwGmv7IIglKHhighip1IiZ_pyOV8XXcXdjAnvmax129L9LSRKz/s737/Screenshot%202023-06-17%20095040.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="737" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqGsQoiLChO86sDn9PtGW-SaPxfGugS3hnrVasCfUDXSD2d3FS_7_h9uL5TVXcxVGLTWODf5vba3fs0bpqYK86iyR1FpTxx-8rHFEPUaXqiva4DJdJeEPi83SXiCFXAh5pKHPkCwtwGmv7IIglKHhighip1IiZ_pyOV8XXcXdjAnvmax129L9LSRKz/s320/Screenshot%202023-06-17%20095040.png" width="320" /></a></div>By my definition and lived experience, addiction is a form of chemically induced mental illness. <p></p><p>Adding alcohol and drugs to pre-existing conditions at the very least hobbles progress. </p><p>Substitute the word Addiction for Mental Illness in the pictured quote gives you <i>"The term Addiction shames people, perpetuates stigma and prevents people from getting help."</i></p><p>Innumerable examples of mental illness and addiction, separately and/or together, could (and do) fill volumes.</p><p>Find yourself and others you may know within the pages of my first book, ALL DRINKING ASIDE.</p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">*****</div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.3px;"><div class="yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x11i5rnm yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xat24cr yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1mh8g0r yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1vvkbs yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xtlvy1s yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "UI Helvetica", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">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 </span></div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a></span></div></div></div></div></div><p style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span><span style="font-size: 14.3px;"> </span></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-21717824024028719342023-06-16T06:35:00.001-04:002023-06-16T12:07:50.656-04:0019 Apples Mark the Anniversary of My Last Drink!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukVIbjIK_geBiC0ng17EI-2MhzoCIoYyzAIy7Uf0XfXkClY1OU0-b6EdIsaB5VNSym7iZaiJset-bPYEgoCr93a5TjMvoakxr6K5WCoXIKMFT4QKH6x9SSYRpjn5Dw2w8K191epQomC8tyfDqZvqaW-smwkDrG3fbFoYcnW97fD-awDYpbiatbGDa/s357/Screenshot%202023-06-16%20115344.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="352" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukVIbjIK_geBiC0ng17EI-2MhzoCIoYyzAIy7Uf0XfXkClY1OU0-b6EdIsaB5VNSym7iZaiJset-bPYEgoCr93a5TjMvoakxr6K5WCoXIKMFT4QKH6x9SSYRpjn5Dw2w8K191epQomC8tyfDqZvqaW-smwkDrG3fbFoYcnW97fD-awDYpbiatbGDa/s320/Screenshot%202023-06-16%20115344.png" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today, June 16, 2023, marks the 19th Anniversary of my Continuous Abstinence from Alcohol. [Apples]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">15 years ago, I smoked my last cigarette. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">[Oranges]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">12 years ago, Marijuana left my living vocabulary. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">[Bananas]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I first hit bottom in 1996 at the tender age of 46 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">[see 46, pictured]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Put all of that aside.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Do not put ALL DRINKING ASIDE aside:</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">*****</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><div class="yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x11i5rnm yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xat24cr yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1mh8g0r yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1vvkbs yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xtlvy1s yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "UI Helvetica", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">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 </span></div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a></span></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span><span style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-30324313461343497372023-06-15T15:20:00.005-04:002023-09-09T10:16:57.382-04:00An Author's Intent Means Nothing... <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrrkbwSaH2X3U2aLx5fiJ7rH1iqhU4O0ujpcrWAfKuvWH40WmtowE5-F5w251VARhmhBnojZENpjK3_LkFb41AYZCfmVl3F_LaDk8pQ2AcGkFbYaRLPk8Tsercm1AB-LCdCk_U15hzhH6dr_ll7ZAtncNMuFW3D5o9rOscRYgDI1fXlXq1Lopo7yC/s454/Screenshot%202023-06-15%20150225.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="433" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrrkbwSaH2X3U2aLx5fiJ7rH1iqhU4O0ujpcrWAfKuvWH40WmtowE5-F5w251VARhmhBnojZENpjK3_LkFb41AYZCfmVl3F_LaDk8pQ2AcGkFbYaRLPk8Tsercm1AB-LCdCk_U15hzhH6dr_ll7ZAtncNMuFW3D5o9rOscRYgDI1fXlXq1Lopo7yC/s320/Screenshot%202023-06-15%20150225.png" width="305" /></a></div> <p></p><p>... Well, maybe not <i>NOTHING!</i></p><p>I wrote ALL DRINKING ASIDE with the intent that it be manageable to Readers in Early Recovery.</p><p>That is why my Autobiographical Fiction contains 90 Chapters, </p><p>In Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step Meetings, one often hears the suggestion to attend 90 meetings in 90 days. I can well remember my inability to focus for more than a few minutes or even a few seconds when I first got clean and sober.</p><p>90 Chapters might make ALL DRINKING ASIDE a not-impossible challenge for prospective Readers Early in their Recovery.</p><p>Read at Your Own Speed!</p><p>90 Chapters in 90 Days is a mere suggestion.</p><p>You can do this!</p><p>Read the Reviews written by others provided here:</p><div style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal </span></div><p><span _istranslated="1" face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a> </span></p><p><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8a832; font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span><span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8a832; font-size: 14.3px;"> </span> </p><p>ENJOY the Ride of ALL DRINKING ASIDE!</p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-73440236364919505112023-06-14T13:15:00.002-04:002023-06-14T13:16:40.231-04:00AVOID CONFUSION<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0Um3LIgtri5s_b-KbZmITczzbvP4O26-gFOGcrH9FKarJy3dX4pFhT22uPZ6_kIXnYM2y45iXoWaHVy-UFWS4-zfDmhem2sXUqm5ty40gJSrCwGEFkLK9_dT7BeZYh9o1BXe7FsJrMUY8DYx0NOqYhqo4DxyWcBh_xFnA53BIsqVSOhrAJBYY_l6s" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0Um3LIgtri5s_b-KbZmITczzbvP4O26-gFOGcrH9FKarJy3dX4pFhT22uPZ6_kIXnYM2y45iXoWaHVy-UFWS4-zfDmhem2sXUqm5ty40gJSrCwGEFkLK9_dT7BeZYh9o1BXe7FsJrMUY8DYx0NOqYhqo4DxyWcBh_xFnA53BIsqVSOhrAJBYY_l6s" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Order BOTH </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">on Amazon.com.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">*****</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x11i5rnm yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xat24cr yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1mh8g0r yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1vvkbs yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xtlvy1s yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "UI Helvetica", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">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 </span></div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a></span></div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space-collapse: collapse;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.3px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN<span style="font-size: 14.3px;">: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(Find it on Amazon, Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</span> </div></div></div></div></div></div><p><br /></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-35828245581308947002023-02-12T11:04:00.002-05:002023-02-12T20:08:59.135-05:00 Relapse is Almost Always Possible Because "Healing May Paper Over the Horror..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8sWqxLJ9QWC-kJcWNFiTmRQZ_m4Rr7S_AIKYggB9mykmcbtSjE1hvvupWk7wYLly0LlMKk4Y-4EDxchU77-WqIkYN_qJQChhsSPFatkZocu0lEn2ac06znHPhSc1H9fk8sUYs2P3_MXfMBCFhVATo8BZFYns3KBs8dSp8fLxWsRbN_kkTjQCrr5Gf/s627/Screenshot%202023-02-12%20105427.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="627" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8sWqxLJ9QWC-kJcWNFiTmRQZ_m4Rr7S_AIKYggB9mykmcbtSjE1hvvupWk7wYLly0LlMKk4Y-4EDxchU77-WqIkYN_qJQChhsSPFatkZocu0lEn2ac06znHPhSc1H9fk8sUYs2P3_MXfMBCFhVATo8BZFYns3KBs8dSp8fLxWsRbN_kkTjQCrr5Gf/s320/Screenshot%202023-02-12%20105427.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Like a punch in the gut, I re-read a recent Tweet: <i>"Some people relapse starting with 'It couldn't have been that bad,' when, indeed, it was worse. Healing papers over part of the horror.... "</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At one point, and it lasted for years, I felt as if I could not possibly exist without alcohol and that my life would be meaningless without it. I felt like a passenger on a plane that had been hijacked.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If it's going to crash, give me another drink as it spirals downward....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now, happily living with many years of recovery under my belt, the very memory of the fact that I once thought I could not live without alcohol seems laughable. I have to remember that clearly, and in a healthy way. The (former) Relapse King (that's me!) must neither forget how bad it once was, nor diminish the long, hard road that has brought me to today. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I dare not let healing paper over the horror of addiction's progressive descent. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have also learned to appreciate the many other memory-related problems that others endure, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, in which an individual gets kind of stuck reliving the distress of emotions and circumstances no longer necessary or actual in the present reality. Rather than remembering, relearning, healing and moving on, the memory repeats itself on an endless loop with little or no healing occurring.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Clearly, I'm not a scientist, but I do have empathy for anyone who is suffering from or has suffered from PTSD. I suffered severe anxiety attacks when deep in my addiction to alcohol, but my anxiety in that dark place was a repeating loop-tape of a painful emptiness too difficult to quantify. If empathy isn't the right word, then perhaps the deepest of sympathies better describes my feelings for victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've been somewhere hear there. Luckily for me, my pain, relived, has softened over time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Healing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">PTSD, for many soldiers, is a maladaptive response to the horrors of war. The horrors occurred and continue to reoccur in a way that is not helpful to neither them nor those around them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My recovery has been about healing, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Normally, when a bone is broken, it heals, and the patient moves on. But in addiction, more than bones are broken. The healing is on a different level than strictly the physical (put aside damage done to every organ of the body, some permanent, some temporary). Sometimes the psychic healing is wallpapered over and the pains that addiction has caused wane over time (the built-in forgetter being sort of the antithesis of PTSD).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Again, healing done not quite right somehow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>"It couldn't have been that bad. I got over it." </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A person accumulates a certain longevity in recovery. Things may be going well. Perhaps too well. They stop picking at the scab. The scab heals and goes away until eventually only a few scars remain. Even the scars begin to fade. <i>"Maybe I can drink again, now that the debris of my addiction has been dealt with. It couldn't have been that bad." </i>At some point in the healing process that idle thought is apt to occur to almost anyone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is no such thought allowed within my thick skull today. It was that bad. It always got worse. Longer and longer periods of sobriety followed by shorter and ever mor disastrous relapses. I will not let the healing process of recovery wallpaper over the horrors of addiction.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Instead of wallpapering over the pain, I think I'll stick to reading THE WRITING ON THE WALL: <i>"Make no mistake, the Beast Inside is sleeping, Not Dead."</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh... one last little thing...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It seems to me that my healing in recovery has surpassed the healing of a broken bone. A broken bone can heal only so well, back to its original form, at best. Recovery, seemingly, has this patient better off than I ever dreamed possible.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Impossible? No.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This (former) Relapse King is Living Proof. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">*****</div><div class="yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x11i5rnm yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xat24cr yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1mh8g0r yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x1vvkbs yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3xtlvy1s yiv6229288349ydp2d1aea52yiv5178460901ydp7198ea3x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "UI Helvetica", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.3px;">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 </span></div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space: normal;"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.3px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a></span></div><div style="background-color: #f8a832; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; white-space: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14.3px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(Find it on Amazon, Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT</a> </div></div></div></div></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-60270456091399756292023-02-02T06:47:00.004-05:002023-02-02T19:11:12.104-05:00Valentine's Day Poem Free for You to Share: "I Want to Kiss You Everywhere!"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9chfMnBxJ0PPq0784hOk7HMlitI-VOJ3NAHs_-JyV9Z7FF0hG9dKIMMvAhmY59zRhXCnQo98sYe-VVnA7p-aDKtnWFxxUyLNGzaK8QRU2KORLPru-uGxYM3mwqcDqAhrNFXStSqpmxk-pYxv30qZAhlxiWO3ESAHkq7HE_RTpqPxffl4IF7Rdj5A/s702/Screenshot%202023-02-01%20220143.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="702" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9chfMnBxJ0PPq0784hOk7HMlitI-VOJ3NAHs_-JyV9Z7FF0hG9dKIMMvAhmY59zRhXCnQo98sYe-VVnA7p-aDKtnWFxxUyLNGzaK8QRU2KORLPru-uGxYM3mwqcDqAhrNFXStSqpmxk-pYxv30qZAhlxiWO3ESAHkq7HE_RTpqPxffl4IF7Rdj5A/s320/Screenshot%202023-02-01%20220143.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>[Written more than half a lifetime ago, I unearthed this gem recently. It shows a side of me from before the publication of "All Drinking Aside," my first book.]<br /><div><br /></div><div>"I Want to Kiss You EVERYWHERE!"</div><div>by</div><div>Jim Anders</div><div><br /></div><div><div>I want to kiss you everywhere.</div><div>On your mouth. On the beach. On Tuesday.</div><div>On your neck. On the bus. Was it yesterday?</div><div>On your chest. Am I blessed? Can it be soon?</div><div>On your arms. Oh, your charms. Upon the moon.</div><div>And your waist, I can taste. And in June.</div><div>******</div><div>I want to kiss you everywhere.</div><div>Like a child, sometimes mild, sometimes not.</div><div>On your thighs. On your eyes. Damn, you're hot.</div><div>On your feet. On your cheek for all I've got.</div><div>On your wrist. And for a twist, in the park.</div><div>In the dark. In the light. On your heart.</div><div>*****</div><div>I want to kiss you everywhere.</div><div>Going downtown. Going all around. </div><div>Kissing everywhere. In the kitchen. On the stair.</div><div>When you smile. Should you frown.</div><div>Show me how. Tell me where. Tell me when.</div><div>And then I'll kiss you everywhere again.</div><div>*****</div><div>[Feel FREE to SHARE! Maybe consider giving a Book of Recovery as a Gift!]</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">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 </span></div><div><p style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(Find it on Amazon, Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT</a> </div></div></div><div></div></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-40452601651350834322023-01-31T20:36:00.001-05:002023-08-30T14:12:00.703-04:00We were never not in recovery.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1BUtUub4a4stuz1CkmyyvrK3s8chBf5LcniUEd0uI0ogVf-GAFhMRQbHPyNDY7eLiF5z-MfLdi1bblquqCVqb1TwgWqoP_uNhw1c3rKKXXEcTXjhiO_TbJScZCYSRaBwmnmR_kQXKaE-RTYIEqUAPfDyl9ALcTIaYbv94gthYXFiPMKNY5O3IkTZL/s488/Screenshot%202023-01-31%20195334.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="488" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1BUtUub4a4stuz1CkmyyvrK3s8chBf5LcniUEd0uI0ogVf-GAFhMRQbHPyNDY7eLiF5z-MfLdi1bblquqCVqb1TwgWqoP_uNhw1c3rKKXXEcTXjhiO_TbJScZCYSRaBwmnmR_kQXKaE-RTYIEqUAPfDyl9ALcTIaYbv94gthYXFiPMKNY5O3IkTZL/s320/Screenshot%202023-01-31%20195334.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8a832; font-size: 14.3px;">*****</span><p></p><div style="background-color: #f8a832; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784">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 </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Book it here): <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</div></div></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-1649657411039449212023-01-31T10:27:00.001-05:002023-08-24T09:35:39.440-04:00My Verse Came First: The Frontispiece to Becoming Unbroken: Reflections on Addiction & Recovery<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZd_ykk5INIeAm6diMje2reLdLzDhikPhA9zgSUoWEWPDjqtEOdcCeSVv3PLvKg9610Y-Lt0jHh41pI43bEbqXsgH5Jx6nSttvz9fWRbrWGVE19zTIfsIf1yk-jz82YJ7JstkWrmNr0_VRbUU82SJ2pPL1gYeVu8rjpnBhW7mcfn3Y4bC55A6gHRyA/s533/Screenshot%202022-06-29%20151245.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="533" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZd_ykk5INIeAm6diMje2reLdLzDhikPhA9zgSUoWEWPDjqtEOdcCeSVv3PLvKg9610Y-Lt0jHh41pI43bEbqXsgH5Jx6nSttvz9fWRbrWGVE19zTIfsIf1yk-jz82YJ7JstkWrmNr0_VRbUU82SJ2pPL1gYeVu8rjpnBhW7mcfn3Y4bC55A6gHRyA/s320/Screenshot%202022-06-29%20151245.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">(Find it on Amazon, Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QP3M5LX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=21VEJZ49SUKWL&keywords=Becoming+Unbroken%3A+Reflections+on+Addiction+and+Recovery&qid=1642614293&s=books&sprefix=becoming+unbroken+reflections+on+addiction+and+recovery%2Cstripbooks%2C668&sr=1-3">Becoming Unbroken: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery: Anders, Jim: 9798786167857: Amazon.com: Books</a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;"><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784" style="background-color: #f8a832;">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 </p><p style="background-color: #f8a832;"></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #f8a832; clear: both;"><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784"><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""trebuchet ms", trebuchet, sans-serif" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Book it here):<a href="https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a></span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1" style="font-size: 14.3px;">All Drinking Aside: The Destruction, Deconstruction and Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal: Anders, Jim: 9781492397304: Amazon.com: Books</a> </p><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784">#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books</p><p _msthash="346678" _msttexthash="22507784">Both Books are Available in Print and Kindle Editions.</p></div></div></div><p><br /></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-29473371010390039552023-01-27T17:41:00.003-05:002023-08-19T10:44:23.361-04:00HUMANKIND: Be Kind. Be Kind. Be Kind.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdMfcB62leSbxRSvA3y40oyekT5TQV0XmX47kPN63lCV1GHWT91KRomaICzmo0YtzlxYttDxPbNe90wf52kk5I9K0mbUjks1P-ke1s03uc1pO_Qo4Gmb2R5pXMXoLFL0nMFmhnP3_sD4KX3eVfiBvfCiwBp-t-Vygf6jmbG9kwmk31IOpCt8IQIh2/s700/Screenshot%202023-01-27%20172838.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="700" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdMfcB62leSbxRSvA3y40oyekT5TQV0XmX47kPN63lCV1GHWT91KRomaICzmo0YtzlxYttDxPbNe90wf52kk5I9K0mbUjks1P-ke1s03uc1pO_Qo4Gmb2R5pXMXoLFL0nMFmhnP3_sD4KX3eVfiBvfCiwBp-t-Vygf6jmbG9kwmk31IOpCt8IQIh2/s320/Screenshot%202023-01-27%20172838.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Sometimes a writer can do no better than to leave wide gaps in expression knowing each reader will fill in the gaps based on their own experience. The title to this short post and the accompanying quote stills my beating heart.<p></p><p>I imagine a dying animal in the wild turned from predator to prey by a broken leg. </p><p>As a Human Community, we celebrate accomplishments, we grieve losses, and we express ourselves in words and actions. </p><p>Be kind. Be kind. Be kind.</p><p>Kindness defines us.</p><p>We can do no better. </p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-27785188172457630492023-01-22T21:34:00.004-05:002023-08-17T09:37:19.018-04:00They went around the circle at my first group meeting in the psychiatric hospital asking each of us in turn how we felt.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAua_o4Lr9wf62aZzPMZ1yAfDAe_exTdXzYV4lL7VCSsym8GbIulLuUxELTKDMkztXHL2RWbmwugsNngJp8iZYxg_L3AmulfdiIfR4qqfL5biLYeNF18kgSurdaG1nqCdn5WaQptKY2BLzkAhBZQTKzxiqyWZj-E7J-FGnmTYMbTueOYf9lxvM9WF/s698/Screenshot%202023-01-22%20212657.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="698" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAua_o4Lr9wf62aZzPMZ1yAfDAe_exTdXzYV4lL7VCSsym8GbIulLuUxELTKDMkztXHL2RWbmwugsNngJp8iZYxg_L3AmulfdiIfR4qqfL5biLYeNF18kgSurdaG1nqCdn5WaQptKY2BLzkAhBZQTKzxiqyWZj-E7J-FGnmTYMbTueOYf9lxvM9WF/s320/Screenshot%202023-01-22%20212657.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />It wasn't long afterwards, as I recall, that I was prescribed psychiatric medication. <div>Is anyone surprised that it took me eight years of relapsing on drugs and alcohol before I found 19 years of continuous recovery?<br /><p></p><p>*****</p><p>Enjoy my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction and Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal. </p><p><span _istranslated="1" face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8a832; font-size: 14.3px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Find it on Amazon. </span><span _istranslated="1" face=""Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8a832; font-size: 14.3px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book it here):<a href="httpshttps://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1://lnkd.in/esP83n-c" style="color: #022c41; text-decoration-line: none;"> https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NJOTD50MMO6N&keywords=All+Drinking+Aside&qid=1668889292&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Caps%2C3803&sr=8-1</a></span></p></div>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2246956300233263127.post-7855065425638940042023-01-12T04:50:00.004-05:002023-08-11T10:23:50.506-04:00<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5wQzhwHNkKV2SELG-ZZQEjkNSTU90M-HIXBgbluqeLp3Zu9O-WI4nRC5oveuR5jSKjKf9K2v5BHkkmoR23pDvtSMpSlOMa8MGNwe8D5fkmA9zLxuWk5MPrtQmt9pNypDRJ1meTHsN7E2f4JU8LhNmlhW66qGAvH4Y1S-aGtpgTIMXQIMneS-epCt/s504/Screenshot%202023-01-12%20043944.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="504" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5wQzhwHNkKV2SELG-ZZQEjkNSTU90M-HIXBgbluqeLp3Zu9O-WI4nRC5oveuR5jSKjKf9K2v5BHkkmoR23pDvtSMpSlOMa8MGNwe8D5fkmA9zLxuWk5MPrtQmt9pNypDRJ1meTHsN7E2f4JU8LhNmlhW66qGAvH4Y1S-aGtpgTIMXQIMneS-epCt/s320/Screenshot%202023-01-12%20043944.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23I1UUP1AI4I6&keywords=All+drinking+aside&qid=1691763023&s=books&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Cstripbooks%2C64&sr=1-1" style="background-color: #f8a832; color: #022c41; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.amazon.com/All-Drinking-Aside-Deconstruction-Reconstruction/dp/149239730X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23I1UUP1AI4I6&keywords=All+drinking+aside&qid=1691763023&s=books&sprefix=all+drinking+aside%2Cstripbooks%2C64&sr=1-1</a> </div><br /><p></p>Jim Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01520721155622934343noreply@blogger.com0