Are You Spiritual?
Spirituality can play an important role in helping people live with or recover from alcohol and addiction related problems.
What is Spirituality?
“It is what is deepest in us – what gives us direction, motivation. It is what enables a person to survive bad times, to be strong, to overcome difficulties, to become themselves.”
People may develop and express their spirituality through:
religious practices such as worship, prayer and reading religious texts
coming together as a spiritual community
attending 12 Step fellowship meetings
living by certain values
rituals such as burning incense
wearing particul...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 11, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Addictions Alcoholism Codependency Faith Spirituality Are You Spiritual express their spirituality What is Spirituality Source Type: blogs
Doctors Recover Too!
Doctors get sick & recover
Physician heals others as he heals himself
It’s hard to ask for help when you’re the doctor, but being a doctor doesn’t mean you’re immune to mental illness and addiction.
The story of a Warkworth physician illustrates this fact. But the ‘Courage To Come Back Award’ Michael Kaufmann recently received from the Canadian Association of Mental Health also shows that his story offers hope.
Dr. Kaufmann’s predisposition and stress of daily life provoked a rapid escalation into addiction. After receiving his medical degree and opening up his own practice in his small town, his consump...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 10, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Addictions Drugs Family Psychological Illness Relationships Sobriety Treatment mental illness Physician stress suicide Source Type: blogs
Healthy Sexuality
What is sexual wellness or healthy sexuality?
From; Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health.
Although sexual wellness or healthy sexuality is a personal question to be examine and explored individualy, the concepts are an explict part of our mission and the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH) believes it is important to offer some views for an individual to consider.
Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors. SASH has adopted and supports the working definition of sexual h...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 10, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Healthy Relationships Sexuality Advancement of Sexual Health sexual wellness Source Type: blogs
Self-importance
is our greatest enemy.
Think about it – what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellowmen. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.
-Carlos Castaneda
Were we offended by someone today? Do we harbor resentment for remarks, oversights, or unpleasant mannerisms? Do we feel tense or uneasy about how someone else has treated us? We can probably make a good case to justify our reactions. Perhaps we are in the right and they are in the wrong.
Yet, even if we are justified, it doesn’t matter. We may be puffing ourselves up and wasting energy....
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 9, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Addictions Alcoholism Codependency Self-importance touchstones Source Type: blogs
Tradition Twelve
“Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. “
We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of Anonymity has an immense spiritual significance.” (Big Book)
“Anonymity, as we observe it in AA, is at root a simple expression of humility.
When we use the Twelve Steps to recover from alcoholism, we are each trying to achieve real humility, to put our self respect on a solid basis of truth, rather than on fantasies about ourselves. When we use the Twelve Traditions to work together in AA, we are all trying to achieve real humility; a...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 9, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Alcoholics Anonymous Higher Power Humility Recovery Spirituality anonymity principles before personalities spiritual foundation Tradition Twelve Source Type: blogs
The Hidden Factor in Recovery
Hopes without plans are futile.
Ambition without purpose is aimless.
Success without friends is empty.
Joy without goodness is folly.
The price of excellence is discipline.
The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.
To our friends, we owe our loyalty.
To our enemies, our prayers,
To our families, our love,
To our master, ourselves.
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Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 8, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Meditation Wisdom Source Type: blogs
The Alcoholic Paradox
From; Our Devilish Alcoholic Personalities
The alcoholic, of course, is many things, as we all know. He is the world’s supreme paradox.
He drinks, not because he would, but because he must.
He does not drink for pleasure, he drinks to pain, yet he drinks.
He will mortgage the wealth of the future to pay off the debts of the past so he may drink up the non-existent present.
He is the only one in nature, I think, who seeks stimulation in alcohol, only to find that it acts upon his nerves as excited misery.
He seeks to inflate his puny little ego in the provocative wine of Bacchus and succeeds in shrivelling his soul i...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 7, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholism Denial Alcoholic Paradox Devilish Alcoholic Personalities Source Type: blogs
Shame and Relapse
This study provides the first evidence that feeling shame about one’s addiction can directly promote relapses.
“Treatment providers have long suspected that shame is a barrier to recovery, but this is the first time we’ve seen this link evidenced so robustly,” note Tracy and Randles.
The results have clear implications for anyone who struggles with addiction or who has loved ones struggling with addiction, and it also has implications for researchers and clinicians who study emotion and addiction.
The findings are also important in light of the fact that some policymakers and judges have argued f...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 6, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholism Emotions Recovery Relapse avoid relapse recovering alcoholics shame Source Type: blogs
Definition of a Mature Person
In recovery from alcoholism, addiction, co-dependency, compulsive gambling or sex addiction maturity will grow by working the 12 Steps.
The mature person has developed attitudes in relation to themselves and their environment which have lifted them above “childishness” in thought and behaviour.
They accept constructive criticism gratefully, being honestly glad for an opportunity to improve.
They do not indulge in self-pity.
They have begun to feel the laws of compensation operating in all life.
They accept the responsibility for their own acts.
They do not expect special consideration from anyone.
They control their...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 6, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Addictions Alcoholism Codependency Emotions Faith Gambling Recovery Relationships Sex Addictions childishness Mature Person Source Type: blogs
Dysfunctional Family Shame
Rejecting Shame
Shame can be a powerful force in our life. It is the trademark of dysfunctional families.
Authentic, legitimate guilt is the feeling or thought that what we did is not okay. It indicates that our behavior needs to be corrected or altered, or an amend needs to be made.
Shame is an overwhelming negative sense that who we are isn’t okay.
Shame is a no-win situation. We can change our behaviors, but we can’t change who we are. Shame can propel us deeper into self-defeating and sometimes self-destructive behaviors.
What are the things that can cause us to feel shame? We may feel ashamed when we have ...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 3, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Adult Children of Alcoholics Alcoholism Codependency dysfunctional family Family Shame Rejecting Shame Source Type: blogs
Common Traits of Adult Children of Alcoholics
ACOA's often have inner shadows of early life
Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) refers to individuals who have grown up in a dysfunctional family as a result of their parents or caretakers alcoholism.
Each ACOA finds they often have common characteristics in adulthood as the result of their childhood and upbringing, often including alcohol or drug abuse themselves. These traits can also be found in other dysfunctional families that include drug addiction, compulsive gamblers, or workaholism.
The condition is often referred to as co-dependency as the sufferer usually needs a person dependent or addicted to alcohol or ...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 3, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Addictions Adult Children of Alcoholics Al-anon Alcoholism Codependency Drugs Emotions Family Gambling Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Psychological Illness Relationships acoa characteristics in adulthood dysfuncti Source Type: blogs
Defining Sexual Sobriety
Sexual addiction abstinence is not necessarily celibacy.
In order for addiction recovery to take place, there must be a bottom line definition of sobriety. For the alcoholic, sobriety is easily defined -alcoholics and drug addicts define sobriety as the amount of time they have abstained from the use of alcohol and other mind-altering chemicals. The time away from the use of these substances is the recovering person’s sobriety time; the date that sobriety began or the day of entry into a Twelve Step program is used as a sobriety date.
For the recovering sexual addict, however, sobriety can be more challenging to de...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - February 1, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Addictions Emotions Recovery Relationships Sex & Love Addicts Sex Addictions Sexuality Defining Sexual Sobriety Sexual addiction abstinence Source Type: blogs
Acknowledge Department
What Happens In Heaven
I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, ‘ This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.
I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.
Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.
The angel then said to me, “This is the Packaging and D...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - January 31, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Emotions Faith Higher Power Meditation angel Happens In Heaven petitions to God Source Type: blogs
Alcoholics Anonymous Census
Courtesy of Rehab Programs. Designed by Dawn Shepard
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Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - January 31, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Alcoholics Anonymous Census Source Type: blogs
Fellowship is Essential for Recovery
Getting Rid of The Bondage of Self
Alcoholism recovery can be understood within the concept of self-centeredness as a central factor in the development and maintenance of alcoholism. Alcoholics Anonymous’ Big Book (as it is affectionately known) is filled with warnings of the dangers of selfishness, self-centeredness, self-absorption, self-justification, self-pity, and self-deception. The collective experience of AA’s original members acknowledges self-knowledge, self-reliance, self-control, and self-sufficiency as failed paths to sustaining sobriety.
Whereas mutual-aid alcoholic societies in the 19th century viewed...
Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com - January 30, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12 Step Fellowships Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholism Recovery Bondage of Self Source Type: blogs
