Many people in the treatment industry don’t do the work they do for the money. They do this work because they love it—getting paid for it is just the icing on the cake. When I went to the Freedom and Recovery Conference in April, I got to talk to a variety of professionals in the rehab industry who had congregated in the name of their common passion: recovery from addiction and mental health issues. In many ways, this was the perfect echo chamber to broadcast the word of the Heroes in Recovery mission. The meeting halls were filled with professional word-spreaders who are passionate about recovery. So the idea of reducing the stigma of addiction, treatment and recovery was received with open ears and a great deal of interest.
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Last week my dad turned the big 5-0, and while there were no pink flamingos in the front yard, we had a fantastic celebration of life. It was a family get-together that will be remembered for years to come. Recovery has given me many things; I think the thing I am most grateful for is my family and the connections we share today. Since entering into recovery, the bond I share with my family has grown stronger and more intimate than ever before.
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I have recently moved to Hawaii. When I first arrived there, a sense of awe and anxiety crept over me. What was I doing here…really? How was I going to fit into this culture that I knew NOTHING about?! Stepping off the plane and feeling the humid, cool air, I reached for my cell phone to text my friend waiting to pick me up at the airport. The “Aloha Spirit” was one I had not personally experienced but had heard a lot about. I was soon going to get it blasted to my core, and willingly so!
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When we empower ourselves, we become strong enough to deal with life’s daily challenges so they don’t hit us quite as hard. The word “empowerment” recalls the self-help movement, which is notorious for trendy coinage. “Trendy coinage” has become trendy coinage! Another trendy thing now is lists. You know those lists: 10 ways to be happy, 15 ways to get your guy, 25 ways to look thinner, 20 tips for financial security, 19 ways to cut your grocery bill, 15 ways to live and not merely exist, 12 stressful things to stop doing… etc. I believe one stressful thing to stop doing would be to stop reading these lists. I have had to set boundaries with the lists. I do not need to know 101 ways of doing anything! My maximum allowed tip is usually 10. I prefer 5, but it depends on the subject matter. This leads me back to empowerment. I did a little research and found, much to my surprise, TIPS ABOUT BECOMING EMPOWERED in the face of addiction.
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When I was a child I never thought much about a good night’s sleep. My mom always had us in bed at set bedtimes depending on our age. During the summer was the only time I got to stay up a half an hour later. As a kid, I just wanted to stay up as late as my brother. Fortunately for me, my mom new what was best.
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Addiction is a lifelong battle that people must fight on a daily basis. A person who has battled addiction in the past and has begun his road to recovery sometimes forgets what he used to be like when he decided to make a change, and he can start to take things for granted. Taking sobriety for granted is something a former addict must try to avoid at all costs. If not, it can be very dangerous.
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