Manifest Destiny brought early settlers of America westward. Everything out west held promise of a better life, especially in California. From the prospect of the gold rush to the modernization of cities like San Francisco, something special was happening on the other side of our maturing country. The allure of the west and of California…
Spirituality may be a bothersome term for some because it seems to imply religious thought. In recovery, however, spirituality is simply addressing the indefinable part of ourselves that caused us to fall victim to hopelessness and depression, and seek drugs and alcohol as a way to fix our problematic internal condition. These feelings are symptomatic…
Drugs like suboxone and methadone are used to treat opioid addiction by delivering enough narcotic to reduce the symptoms of withdrawal. The theory is that these medications will keep a person addicted to opioids from using them by replacing their drug of choice with a safer prescription medication. Suboxone, in particular, contains naloxone, an opioid…
“Progress, not perfection” is a common phrase used in the rooms of recovery fellowships. The concept is derived from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. After presenting the 12 steps, the Big Book states: “Do not be discouraged. No one among us had been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We…
In a state of active addiction, we lost touch with who we were at the core of our being. We began identifying ourselves with the drugs we were using and put up walls to block our true nature off from the rest of the world. When we get sober, however, we begin to realize that…
Many men and women suffering from the disease of addiction have attempted to stop countless times. They go through unimaginable pain while attempting to detoxify their bodies, only to pick up another drink or drug shortly after. This is because there are certain aspects of the disease of addiction that make it nearly impossible to…
Addiction is a disease that strongly affects our thinking and brain chemistry. We will always search for an excuse not to seek help because we have such a strong compulsion to continue using drugs that we will trick ourselves into thinking that our life is manageable. Generally, if we find ourselves asking the question of…
Many of us fondly remember the comfortable feeling of being in a bar or being around friends and family who are drinking or using drugs. We want to hold onto that part of our lives and feel that we will be able to simply not use drugs or drink when we are in an environment…
Many of us have been through tremendous amounts of pain and suffering during our time in active addiction or alcoholism. We came to a point when we realized that we were unable to gain control over our drug or alcohol use. This point in our lives, when we were finally ready to surrender, is often…
Our time in addiction changed the way that we think. Our brains became so accustomed to drugs and alcohol that we began developing uncontrollable cravings. Often, we found out the hard way that, no matter how many times we swore we would not drink or use again, we managed to convince ourselves to pick up…