How Can I Change Everything?

When we are new in recovery, we often hear the silly slogan “The only thing you have to change is everything.” It’s said in jest, but it’s also true to a large degree. For those of us who are new to recovery, this can seem like a tall order. Never mind the fact that we’re […]

Closeness in This Time of Distance

It’s far too easy to feel totally isolated and disconnected these days. Many of us have spent a long time separated from our loved ones, families, friends, and recovery community. We’ve been apart for a long time — and whether we’re in recovery or not, human beings are not meant to live in isolation. We […]

Will I Always Inventory About the Same Things?

Hopefully, if you’ve been in recovery for even a little bit of time, you’ve gotten busy with the 12 Steps. If this is the case, you’ve likely encountered the 4th Step and the 10th Step. These are commonly referred to as the personal “inventory” steps. Even if we’re new to the 12-Step program, we’ve probably […]

Outside Issues: Diet and Nutrition

We take on a lot in early recovery. Pretty much everything about our lifestyle changes. We have new things to do like attending meetings and working the 12 Steps. We have a whole new community of friends in the recovery fellowship. We find fun new ways to spend our time sober and reinforce the joy […]

Men’s Issues: Healthy Sex Conduct

If we’re an adult male of any stripe, the odds are good that sex is a pretty big part of our life. Especially if we’re a man in recovery for alcoholism or addiction, there’s a whole section of inventory just for sexual conduct. It’s clearly pretty important. It’s also a minefield for a whole mess […]

What Will Life Be Like in Recovery?

This is one of the most common questions we have as newcomers: what will life be like in recovery? We all want to know what’s going to change. Everything can change in recovery, but what changes is primarily up to us. Are we willing to do things differently? It’s going to be what we make of it, […]

Beyond the Obvious Benefits of the 12-Steps

It’s no secret that the 12-Step program of recovery is by far the most effective, holistic, and successful method of treating alcoholism and addiction for both the short and long term. Simply put, it really works! For alcoholics and addicts seeking freedom and recovery from their deadly disease, there is practically nothing else that works […]

How To Reconnect to Our Purpose

Purpose is a big word. The greatest minds in history have been trying to answer this question for ages. But for alcoholics and addicts like us, purpose may be a lot easier to come by than we thought. What Is Purpose? The dictionary defines the word purpose as “the reason for which something is done or […]

How Can I Deal With My Guilt?

Guilt is something that we all experience, no matter who we are. Whether it’s caused by something in our past or present, everyone will experience guilt at one point or another. Guilt is a natural thing to feel, but it becomes destructive when it lingers beyond its usefulness, follows us everywhere, weighs us down, or […]

9th-Step Promises and the 9th-Step Funk

For those who have spent even just a little time in the rooms of recovery, we are aware of the 12-Steps. Hopefully, we’ve gotten ourselves busy and started working on the 12-Steps with our sponsor. That’s all we need to find freedom and recovery — a copy of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, a […]