What Winners Do – An Addiction Recovery Blog Stories, Struggles And Success of A Recovering Addict Trying to Do What Winners Do

HALT: Hungry Angry Lonely Tired

Posted on September 29, 2009

Those in addiction recovery learn that taking care of your basic needs will aid in relapse prevention. There is even a catchy acronym for it. H.A.L.T. - Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Paying attention to these simple needs is a great start in recovery.

Merry Christmas

Posted on September 28, 2009

Well it seems that I have been neglecting my blog. I guess it happens right. Can't always be brimming with profound things to say :)

I did want to take a moment and wish all my readers a safe and happy holiday. This can be an extremely difficult time for anyone but when you add in the stress of trying to stay sober during the holiday season it can become a little overwhelming.

My advice? Keep talking, keep listening, keep reading, and most importantly... keep identifying with others. When you boil down every type of recovery program they all seem to be made up of these key elements. So don't forget.

Happy Holidays

Happy Fourth Of July

Posted on September 22, 2009

I wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe fourth of July. Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays ever since I was a young child. I spent some time this morning thinking of what my Independence Days used to be like when I was a child.

A Recovering Addict Watching An Active Addict… It’s Torture

Posted on September 21, 2009

When we were in active addiction we couldn't see ourselves for what we were until the very end when we finally surrendered and asked for help.

No matter what others would tell us about how we looked or acted we somehow rationalized it as them having a problem... not us.

Having an active addict in your family forces you to look close up at addiction but through an outside view. For this recovering addict, watching an active addict is torture.

When Drugs And Alcohol Are Your Top Priority…There’s Not Room For Much Else

Posted on September 19, 2009

It's never nice to think about but when you are an addict your top priority, and sometimes your only priority, is drugs. Finding them, affording them, doing them, feeling their effects, coming down off them...finding them again.

Once you are no longer in active addiction you're able to take a clear look at what the important things are in your life. A clear head and a better understanding of yourself will drastically change what you consider as your top priorities in life.

My suggestion is to rebuild what your priorities are in your recovery and...keep it simple.

Examining Yourself In Addiction Recovery

Posted on September 17, 2009

teststress1.gifThere was a time, even in early addiction recovery when self examination was a very scary thing for me. I avoided it, I ran from it, I feared it.

As my addiction recovery has chugged along, I have found it easier and easier to take a good look at myself. Not only is it easier, I feel that I couldn't live without doing this.

Instead of cowering from self examination I now seek it out. I am always looking for ways to look a little deeper inside so I can see what is going on with me. But it's not always easy.

Lifestyle Changes In Addiction Recovery: How I Went From Queen of The Jams To Suzie Homemaker

Posted on September 16, 2009

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It seems that I have turned into Suzie Homemaker in the little over a year period of my addiction recovery.

This change did not come without huge resistance on my part. Going from Queen of the Jams (a jam = an oxycontin pill) to Suzie Homemaker was not a smooth transformation. Obviously there were lifestyle changes that needed to be made once I entered into addiction recovery but I never pictured this.

Last Post On Cymbalta Withdrawal Symptoms

Posted on September 13, 2009

Over the past couple of months I have been posting some articles dealing with my own experience of weening of Cymbalta and what Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms I have had. This will be the last Cymbalta related post...I swear.

Just Don’t Do It Doesn’t Work…How Do We Tell Young People About The Dangers Of Addiction?

Posted on September 9, 2009

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After reading a post over at TDA about Lame PSA's Blamed For Drug Use, I got to thinking about how we tell young people about the dangers of addiction.

The answer...we don't really do that at all. We tell them that if they use too many drugs they will lose their personality. We tell them not to drink and drive. We tell them that Oxycontin ruined our lives.

We even go so far as to tell them that if they smoke pot while babysitting the child will drown in the pool (seriously, have you seen this one?).

What we don't do is explain the true reasons why for some people drinking and drugging becomes an addiction that can take over their entire life and sometimes lead them so far down that they never come back up.

But how do you explain the dangers and warning signs of addiction to young people?

Identifying Addictive Thinking

Posted on September 8, 2009

I have talked about addictive thinking in the past and surprise, surprise... here I go again.

The reason for me bringing up addictive thinking so often? The reason is that I still see that old addictive thinking trying to creep it's way back in from time to time.

So if addictive thinking never goes away... what's the point of all this? Well, even though it hasn't entirely disappeared from my brain, I am getting pretty good at identifying addictive thinking.