Bring Olympic Qualities to Your Life

Besides being entertained by the Olympics and enjoying those adrenalin rushes from watching speed skating, downhill, mogul and halfpipe events, there may be more to be learned from these exceptional athletes. Obviously physically gifted, what else do they have going for them? What allows some individuals to become Olympians or simply to feel good about their lives, while others land in jail, divorce court for the third time, or are brain dead from a drug overdose…or just have that knot in their gut that prevents genuine satisfaction and joy in everyday living? Continue reading

Recovery Step 6

Ready for Change?

This is the step that separates the men from the boys, or, more accurately, the real adults from the emotionally immature. For those working and living by a twelve step program, you may remember that this step, quoted here from the Narcotics Anonymous literature, actually says, “We were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.” For anyone not in a twelve step program, personal growth may still be of interest and step six is a terrific “step” on the way to having a better self. Continue reading

Recovery Step 5

Tell Someone

I recently watched that great old classic movie, Crocodile Dundee, and was struck by the following conversation taking place at a cocktail party in NYC:

Sue to Croc: “A shrink, that’s a Psychiatrist.”
Crocodile Dundee: “Oh, I didn’t know she was nuts.”
Sue: “She’s not nuts. She goes there to talk about her problems, to bring them out in the open.”
C.D.: “Doesn’t she have any mates?”
Sue: “I guess there aren’t any shrinks in Walkabout.”
C.D.: “If you have a problem in Walkabout, you tell Wally, he tells everyone in town, brings it out in the open and there’s no more problem.”
Sue: “We could all use more mates.” Continue reading

Recovery Step 4

This is a terrific time to get to work on ourselves! For anyone working a 12 step program, or anyone who wants to use this method for emotional and spiritual growth, the hard work continues with step four. Some say that this is the step that separates those who really want to recover and change from those who just say they do. A saying that goes around recovery groups is, “One, two, three, drink,” a commentary on what often happens to people who are beginning recovery from addiction but are not willing to do the difficult work of step four. Experience shows that if he just does steps one, two, and three, without continuing through the rest of the steps, the alcoholic usually drinks again. Continue reading

Why? or Why Not?

The illusion is that if we just know why, we can effect change. Not so. “Why” is the refrain of the two year old and of the teenager. Never ending and always prompting another question, not a solution, “why” becomes a mental gyration. “Why” is the booby prize! We can speculate, understand the psychodynamics, believe we know the pathway we have followed to our present state of being, perhaps our present state of self destruction, and still continue down said pathway! Continue reading