I am fast approaching two years of sobriety. Not too shabby for someone whose life revolved around alcohol for seventeen years. Based on my experience throughout this time, I have put together a list of twenty one action items that I believe will benefit every newly sober person. I would have appreciated this list back in July 2008 when I first got sober. Fortunately, I did come across Spiritual River, which was a great starting point. (1) Write frequently in a journal. Do this whether... »

I’ll Stop Tomorrow;  Paul Campbell has hit the nail on the head when he says ‘This book was written by somebody who had everything and lost everything’ and ‘someone who went through the living hell of chronic alcoholism and the tough times of recovery’.  Author Paul Campbell was once a highly successful advertising executive in Ireland. He had the kind of financial and personal success that many people can only dream of until alcohol nearly destroyed him. Thankfully, he lived to tell... »

Hi Everyone, I had not heard from Debbie for a while but then she got back in contact. Here is what has been going on for Debbie; I haven't checked rp for a while. I saw your most recent post and had to write. I didn't want to  but here goes. Just shy of six months of sobriety, sometime in mid November, I relapsed. I started drinking again. At first it was a bottle of wine and I recall feeling really glad that... »

Tonight I had to give my son a talk about drugs, it was a part of his cub scout advancement to earn another badge. I can not tell you how good it felt that I was able to speak with him honestly about the ill effects of involving himself in such things. Imagine if this was 17 months ago, would I have said hold on son, let me just fill up my wine glass and pop out for a quick... »

I just read a comment from my friend Paul Cook, he is the author of a fantastic sobriety book called "Cooked in LA", if you haven't read my book review already you can click here to find out all about it.  Paul was letting me know that a potential movie of the book could be in the pipeline, that would be amazing! Paul's story was meant for the big screen. It got me thinking about sobriety movies and I couldn't really... »

I have come across a whole bunch of sobriety resources in the form of podcasts that are fantastic so I thought I would share them with you; Podcasts for Successful living with Allan Hunkin - Every interview that you can get. Oprah - The Soul Series - Listen by podcast or watch the webcasts. Listen to all of them! Social Anxiety Resolved Podcasts with Johnathan Berent- Very useful and informative  Listen and learn! These have been very helpful to me and are so interesting. I will keep... »

This article is not new but is interesting...Here is an extract from ChristianityToday.com As Clapton's legend grew, so too did his destructive behaviors. Within a year of his conversion he became addicted to heroin, kicked it, but moved on to alcohol, sexual promiscuity, and a string of failed relationships. "Bad choices were my specialty," he said. In 1987 he hit the bottom. Failing through a month of rehab, he fell to his knees and finally "surrendered" to God, dedicating his sobriety to... »

Over the last year I have had the great fortune of meeting (via the Internet) many people who have changed their lives successfully after living for years with chronic alcoholism. They have hit rock bottom so to speak with regard to alcoholism but they have been able to pull themselves back and recreate a new life. One of these people is a man named Paul Campbell from Ireland. If you follow Recovery Princess then you will have seen some of... »

It keeps getting better and better. I always want to be better, to do my best, to learn more, to understand more, to accept more, to help more, to be present, to know that at the end of the day I can honestly say to myself that I am living a good life now. Sobriety really does just keep getting better and better. The relationship I have with myself is far healthier than it has been probably since I was... »

I have come across another immensely valuable resource. Anthony Robbins. Just like with Zig Ziglar, I wonder where on earth I have been that I have only found this man now. But in a way I believe it is significant in the sense that right now is when I need to hear what he has to say the most. I have found recently that I have the ability to control and change the way I feel, I am able to clearly... »

I am going to pass on a quick tip that will lift your mood. If you feel depressed, tired, useless, hopeless or maybe you don't feel that bad but you could do with some more positivity to help you think about possibilities instead of hardship, then you will find this helpful. Before I give it to you I want to tell you why I think this helps. As you know if you are a regular reader, I have been sober for nearly... »

In alcohol recovery and sobriety or even in normal situations, when you are feeling depressed, you are totally focused on yourself, maybe your shortcomings, your problems, your surroundings, whatever it may be, your thoughts are centered upon yourself. It is hard to even see that when you are feeling in a bad way. I recently went through quite a depressive slump of a week or so and I felt really crappy. One day, I was going through my emails and I... »

Cooked in LA is a seriously entertaining biography told with lots of humor and honest self evaluation. Author Paul Cook takes you on his captivating journey as a DJ from Minnesota to the star studded land of LA all the while wrestling with his growing struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction.    Paul Cook comes across as a down to earth guy with a good attitude, although he mingled with the rich and famous he has kept his true self. His style of... »

If you need inspiration for sobriety, or want to create a new life for yourself, or need some lifting up then listen to this audio interview with Tony Robbins by Brendon Burchard. I am always on the lookout for inspiration, motivation, enthusiasm for life, personal development and success. This interview gave me an enormous lift when I needed it most. I have this readily available to me my file of  Daily Inspiration. I keep a folder in my outlook which is full of emails that... »

What is important? Do you want money or do you want meaning? That is what I struggle with, I want money, not because I think it will make me feel better but because I know what I could do with it, I have tons of things I want to do, achieve, share and experience. Money will make it easier for me. I also know that whilst I want money, I don't want to get by doing something that I do not... »

I have been feeling off for quite a while now. I should be feeling much better if anti-depressants have anything to do with it but I am not. I am just feeling, self absorbed might be a good way to describe it. I have been walking around with a head full of negative thoughts and I have had a hard time getting rid of them, in fact the more I have tried to change my attitude, the more negativity I... »

On a lot of shows that involve transformation (read weight loss) one excuse that I’ve heard oft repeated is that people don’t want to go to the gym when they are overweight because they feel that the skinny people in the gym are looking at them and judging them. I always felt that that logic was a croc.   That said, I also believed that some people are just naturally thin. Last week while I was at the gym I realized that... »

Over the last week, my entire family has been home sick with the dreaded flu including myself. It has been one of those times when reflection has been inevitable. I have had lots of fleeting thoughts about the past, mainly with a negative overtone. I haven't been feeling extremely negative but I have been experiencing some angst when I think about my former life as an alcoholic. It upsets me that I went down such a long difficult path making bad... »

This is so important if you truly want to achieve sobriety...........  Disassociation There are some people you might need to break away from completely. This might not be an easy step to take, but it's essential. You have to make the hard choice not to let certain negative influences affect you anymore. Decide the quality of life you want to have, and then surround yourself with the people who represent and support that vision. To read the full article click... »

I am happy to say that life is good. I am not without my problems but they are problems that everyone is facing, not the old sorry alcohol problems that ruled my life for so many years. In many ways my life is so normal now that I almost forget that I was an active alcoholic who could not function without a drink. The everyday things that I do now, I sometimes take for granted. When I stop and think about... »

I came across this today and think it is definitely worthy of attention;   "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them." I read this and more in a frequent email that I receive from Simple Truths. I have to tell you that every single time... »

For years, I have struggled to make friends with people. I’ve looked back at my old journals from like 6 years ago and I keep saying the same things: make friends, lose weight etc etc. It is tedious just to repeat it even now.  My explanations for the deficit of social connections in my life have been myriad: other people are incredibly shallow and they just don’t understand me, I was too busy with work, I just don’t know how, whatever.  Anyway... »

I recently read the brilliant book "Broken, My Story Of Addiction And Redemption" By William Cope Moyers with Katherine Ketcham. It has taken me a while to write this review and not because I couldn't think of enough great words to describe the excellent reading experience I had, but because when I approached William Cope Moyers and asked if I could review his book, I had no idea that aside from his story of addiction and redemption, he is also an accomplished journalist... »

I was at work the other day, my colleague and I were chatting about different things and it came out that in her family were two alcoholics, one of which was in recovery and had been sober for many many years. It was amazing. I had sat at my desk many a time just wanting to say 'I am a recovering alcoholic, can you tell?' but I never did. I always thought to myself, oh how could I possibly tell... »

It has been a rough time, I am now not having trouble with my head, it is circumstances that are problematic. I have been through the 'oh, why is this happening to me' but thankfully I came out of that pretty quickly. I had a vision that once I stopped drinking everything would be better and it is but not in the way I thought it would be. I keep coming back to the same thing, this is a test,... »

When Recovery Princess asked me to guest post on her blog, I kinda drew a blank for a minute until I remembered the terrific event I was involved with last weekend here in San Diego. I just had to blog about “Strut for Sobriety.” Check out the official logo for the 5th Annual Strut for Sobriety held in San Diego, CA on the left side of this page. Pretty cool, huh? This event is held in September, National Substance Abuse Recovery... »

Not that you would have noticed from the national press, well I didn't anyway. September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Here is a government website full of information that you may find useful, or perhaps you know someone who would appreciate this information. National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month September... »

Zig Ziglar's words are ALWAYS worth reading, he such a smart man with an amazing brain. Straight forward and to the point, he has much life experience to learn from. Today when I opened my regular email from Creators.com, classic Zig Ziglar I was pleasantly surprised to read Zig talking about addiction. I thought this was worth of sharing with you all.... Addictions Make Relationships Difficult by Zig Ziglar from Creator.com While getting a haircut, the barber, who has been cutting my hair... »

I often get the feeling that something is missing, not just alcohol! It is a feeling of discontent, like I should be doing something more or there is something that I am missing. I recognize this as being in a state of growing. You may have felt something similar if you are also on a sobriety journey. When I first quit drinking, it was all I could do to just get through the day, then it was all about going through... »

Are you living with an alcoholic? Are you an alcoholic living with others who are not alcoholic? In either of the above situations, living with an alcoholic or being the alcoholic within a household is no easy feat. Not only was I an alcoholic but I have known many alcoholics in my lifetime. My father, some of my friends, some family members of my friends and so on. A very close friend of mine experienced a tragic experience with her own alcoholic mother. Her mother... »

On Saturday night my roommate came home with a friend of hers. They both got dressed to go out to a club and left again. Meanwhile I was on the couch knitting and watching a documentary that I had borrowed from the library.   I felt such intense shame that I had been caught doing this. I felt like such a loser and my immediate reaction was – I want some candy or something really greasy like Popeye’s and I wanted to... »

I think that everyone should 'Blog For Sobriety'. Really! I mean I honestly don't think I would have made it this far without my blog. That may sound really stupid to some people but it has helped to keep me accountable and I think it has helped a few other people out there as well as it being a great creative outlet. My friend Brett, over at  http://giveupalcohol.blogspot.com/ began his blog before he actually quit drinking. He is now 78 days sober and I think... »