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…
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.…
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…
One of the most common 12-Step slogans is “One Day At A Time.” This has become one of my most oft-quoted mantras in recovery. But what does it really mean? What about this slogan can help me gain perspective and hope in recovery? Living in the present moment has become a huge paradigm-shift and a…
As I was studying in Working the S-Anon Program this week, I came across some great material about the HOW of the program. HOW is an acronym that stands for: HONESTY OPEN-MINDEDNESS WILLINGNESS These 3 attitudes are the essentials of recovery. But what do they really mean? Here are some insights from Working the S-Anon…
Valentine’s Day can be a very difficult day for those of us who have experienced the lies, deceit and betrayal of living with or having lived with a pornography or sexual addict. All the red hearts and the mushy sentiments can send us into feelings of sadness, fear, inadequacy or even anger. But there is…
When I first came to SAL groups, I had been attending a different recovery group for a year. While I had never heard the term of surrender before, it was skittered throughout many of the comments of SAL women each week in their shares. Embarrassed that I was unfamiliar with something that seemed so fundamental,…
Today, we’d like to address a question we received at the Q&A session at the last SAL Conference. A friend in recovery asks: “Is this program for those of us who have chosen divorce? I at times feel like I ‘failed’ as the spouse of an addict.” This is a great question, and a vulnerable…
Happy New Year to our Recovery Community! Today’s post is going to be about how recovery is changing my whole approach to New Year’s Resolutions. The old me loved New Year’s Resolutions. I would review the past year, start planning my next picture album, tabulate all the final numbers on our annual budget, and then…