The Myth of Self-Reliance

If you haven’t noticed yet, one of the main themes in 12-Step literature is self-reliance. Becoming aware of our overly self-reliant behaviors and attitudes can feel like flipping our current worldview on its head.  Isn’t self-reliance a good thing?  Isn’t it what we have worked our whole life for? Rock bottom opened my eyes to…

Happy Easter: Celebrating Step 7

Spring is my favorite season.  Everywhere I look, there is new life springing up around me.  Buds on the trees, tulip leaves pushing through dirt, geese soaring northward over my head in perfectly v-shaped droves.  As my recovery friend put it in the weekly email to our recovery group: “Everything that is dormant or dead…

Gratitude in Difficulties

Thank you to Alicia for sharing her strength, hope, and experience in this beautiful post.  Four years ago, I spent an entire July in what felt like total upheaval. I’d had my gall bladder out, my son broke his arm, my husband and I separated, and I ended the month with an ER visit over…