What does the “power of surrender” mean? Why is surrender an essential part of the addiction recovery process? Or is it? Most of us have heard of the concept of surrender as we’re going to meetings and trying to work the steps of recovery from addiction. But have you ever had this question: “What does surrender really mean?” Or…
Recovery is all about developing new attitudes. I didn’t come to recovery until I had reached a point where I was forced to admit that my old attitudes weren’t working. Although this was extremely painful, it ended up being my first blessing of the program. Keeping the focus on myself. This was a new concept;…
Thanks to Alicia for this beautiful guest post about her experience with anger in recovery. Chronicles of Anger “Let’s talk about anger,” my therapist said. “Oh,” I shrugged, “I don’t really have any. I’m not really an angry person.” “Really? You don’t have anger?” “Not really… what I’m really worried about is…” And on…
Self-care. Like almost every principle of recovery, this concept was something that I just didn’t get before hitting my rock bottom. I am ashamed to say that in my former life I would sometimes feel critical or even superior to other women when I would see them taking time out for themselves. Instead of seeing…
Recovery vs. Sobriety The question proposed is one I’ve thought about quite a bit; what I’m going to share is based on my own experience. To share my feelings about the question, I’ll start with a few questions: Why does the White Book say, “Without sobriety we have nothing to offer anyone.” (p. 185) What does…
Today’s men’s discussion is based on a question received from a sponsor regarding his sponsee. He wondered, “How do I help a sponsee who’s struggling?” If you have questions that you’d like to discuss, please submit them here. Thanks for all your interaction in the men’s SAL group discussion. How to Help a Sponsee Who’s…
SA Lifeline sees recovery as an ongoing process of living with God at our center, “One Day At A Time.” But what does God-centered love look like? For those of us who have lived with a loved one in addiction, we have often fallen into a model of dysfunction, putting our addict at our center. When this…
Do you ever feel confused about whether recovery is a journey about forgetting or remembering? In the months following my husband’s big disclosure, the theme of “Remembering” came up over and over. In fact, my husband wrote a list at this point of his goals for recovery. It looked like this: Attend weekly Recovery meetings.…
This question has come up quite a bit, both for me personally as an addict working my own recovery, through the contact form here at SALifeline.org, and in meetings I’ve been a part of. “How do I safely share triggers with my wife or significant other?” Have you ever had this question? What’s the “right…
When I heard this TED Talk, “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong,” Johann Hari’s approach to this sensitive topic brought tears to my eyes. Johann mixes research with personal experience to shed light on the misinformation that almost monopolizes popular opinion on addiction. His insights rang true to the addict in my life…