Abundance Recovery

08/17/2020

Quote of the Day: "Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work. - William Arthur Ward

One of the things that I admire most about the fellowship is that it is a program of action. We are given principles and values to live by that allow us to crawl out of our cold darkness. We are taught that we can’t think our way into right actions, but we can act our way into right thinking. Through simple care and kindness towards others, we discover our true essence. We find that the road to our happiness is paved by helping others. By shedding our spiritual blockages (steps 4-10), we develop an amazing partnership with a loving God of our own understanding. Soon we find that others are drawn to our passion for living and commitment to honesty and good will towards all. Our spirit becomes contagious, and we can bring new light into most places and situations. Each and every day, we have the ability to make somebody feel like they are somebody. An insightful person once said, "People will forget what you said, or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel." We were given a remarkable gift, one that we can't keep unless we give it away, so make the most of life's limitless opportunities to express love, care and kindness.

07/01/2020

Quote of the Day: "Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong." AS BILL SEES IT, p. 90
So many alcoholics have shared that they weren't comfortable in their own skin, or that they felt deep loneliness. We could be in a room full of people and still feel alone. We later learn that this emptiness, the hole in our gut so to speak, was a spiritual void in our lives. One of the great attractions of our fellowship is that our common bond seems to break down those barriers that used to prevent us from connecting with others. I now know in my heart of hearts that I never have to be alone ever again. If I stay close to the program, I will always have access to a sanctuary of love, care, and kindness. The second I reach out to another alcoholic, I get a meaningful sense of belonging. Immediate trust is built knowing that we are both on the same journey of sobriety, enlightenment, and becoming a better person. I know that I have been truly blessed to have become a recovering member
of this fellowship; a fellowship that has filled my once lonely heart with love, serenity, and care.

06/27/2020

Podcast Episode 3: The Butterfly Effect

This week I discuss the importance of self-reflection and personal transformation in today's world.

06/25/2020

Quote of the Day: "Vision is, I think the ability to make good estimates, both for the immediate and for the more distant future. Some might feel this sort of striving to be heresy against "One day at a time." But that valuable principle really refers to our mental and emotional lives and means chiefly that we are not foolishly to repine over the past nor wishfully to daydream about the future. As individuals and as a fellowship, we shall surely suffer if we cast the whole job of planning for tomorrow. As Bill Sees It, Vision Beyond Today, p. 317

Living one day at a time has been a godsend, but it does not absolve me of the responsibilities of life. We would be foolish to disregard completely any form of planning in our lives. We still have to take the action, but the results, expectations and outcomes are all left up to our Higher Power. For me, that is part of my daily 3rd step – turning my “life” over to the care of God (the results and my expectations). It's like the story about the man that pleads with God that he has forsaken him, because he did not win the lottery. God's response was, "My son, meet me halfway, buy a ticket." I firmly believe we get sober to get a second chance at life; a chance to live out all our dreams. With that said, dreams require planning and footwork to come to fruition. However, we must be careful to temper our expectations; expectations are resentments under construction. Live today but have a vision for tomorrow. Vision can make sense of today and give much hope for tomorrow.

06/25/2020

Register at www.TheARTofInterventionProject.com The online virtual summit is called The A.R.T. of Intervention Project: Teaching Breakthrough Strategies To H...

06/24/2020

Quote of the Day: "By going back in our own drinking histories, we showed them that years before we realized it we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression. 12&12, p. 23

To me, this passage in our 12&12 in Chapter 1 is vital to a thorough 1st step. For many of us, the mere act of walking into our first meeting and surrendering to our disease was the foundation of our first step and recovery. But, so many of us succumb to the cunning nature of our disease that tells us that we weren't that bad, or we could handle "one" drink. This never works, and we end up crawling back to the program with our tail between our legs. There are many reasons that this occurs, but one is a less than thorough 1st step. As it states in this passage, we need to go back into our drinking histories to see the fatal progression of our disease. I usually tell sponsees to focus on the incidents with negative ramifications, which highlights the second half of step 1 - that our lives had become unmanageable. This exercise displays its profound nature when we later burn it (send it back to hell where it belongs), and the result usually takes on some form of spiritual experience for the person that thoroughly faced their own truths. The 1st step is the foundation of our recovery, and we need to make sure we eliminate any reservations whatsoever that we are alcoholics. Any other notion is just a flat out delusion that will kill us!

06/20/2020

Kids will need more than 'How are you doing?' convo during all of this, unless you want to see a CHAZ 2.0 in the future.

US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.

06/17/2020

Not talking about that black market ketamine.....Ketamine assisted therapy has shown some pretty incredible results so far.

The anaesthetic drug ketamine has been shown, in low doses, to have a rapid effect on difficult-to-treat depression. Researchers now report that they have identified a key target for the drug: specific serotonin receptors in the brain. Their findings give hope of new, effective antidepressants.

06/17/2020

If only he could 'just say no'.......

Scientists built a computer model of a simple brain network based on that of a sea slug, taught it how to get food, gave it an appetite and the ability to experience reward, added a dash of something called homeostatic plasticity and then exposed it to a very intoxicating drug. To no one's surprise,...

06/16/2020

Quote of the Day: "Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth." -- Benjamin Disraeli

I have heard it many times that alcoholism is a disease of runaway emotions. Quite simply, we feel too much. Not knowing how to deal with our emotions, we reached for the bottle to numb out. When we finally get to the program and no longer have the temporary relief from alcohol, our emotions and feelings come rushing to the forefront. It usually coincides with our 30-60-90 day, 6 and 9 month chips, and I have often said to tormented sponsees, "You’re right on schedule." It is doubly hard for the men in the program due to societies misguided stigma of men not showing emotions. One of the things I love about the program is that it is perfectly okay to feel everything, shed tears, and get it out. Tears are the last dying gasp of our egos. Tears are healing. Coach Valvano once said, "If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." Make today special and don't be afraid to show emotions.

06/16/2020

Brian Bauer, Registered Psychotherapist, Denver, CO, 80221, (720) 410-6387, The recovery process from substance use looks different for everybody. There is no 'right' way to do recovery or a way that is better than the others. In addition, everybody has different goals and intentions, as it relates....