Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

We here at Your Daily Fix hope that your Thanksgiving Holiday is safe, sober and clean and that you enjoy all the blessings that you have been given this past year and anticipate those yet to come.  Those of us that have been in the Recovery arena for a few days know all too well just how important it is to have an "attitude of gratitude".  This time of year is the perfect time to enhance our gratitude list.  And if you haven't started yours yet it's especially a good time to do that also.  

The Thanksgiving Song - IgniterMedia.com from ignitermedia on GodTube.

 

Thanks for visiting us – come back soon.

Remember:  “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but a thing!” 

 

Veterans and Substance Abuse

Hello Folks – welcome back.  I know that we are supposed to start our discussion about Addiction but since tomorrow is Veteran’s Day we are going to change the tone here.  WAIT-Don’t touch that mouse!!  The information we are going to share with you will be of benefit to all of us.

Let me begin by telling ALL our veterans  Thank You for your service to our Country.

Without your unselfish service, we the people could not enjoy the freedoms we have in the United States.  Far too often, we take these liberties and their cost for granted.  The majority of Americans don’t realize all the sacrifices that our veterans have made to ensure that we can go about our daily lives as usual.  So for all the missed birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgivings, Christmas’ and other special occasions that we are able to celebrate but that you, by your duty to country, have missed – I salute you.  Moreover, for all the loss of limbs and organs, for the nightmares and for the unthinkable memories that you live with for My freedom-I send out a genuine heartfelt Thank You.

Here are some interesting and important statistics that those of you in the Recovery Arena might not be aware of:

            7% of the US population is veterans

            About 23% of the homeless population in the America is veterans

            20% of the annual suicides in the US are committed by veterans-18 deaths per day

            Of veterans with substance abuse issues 68% choose alcohol as their drug of choice

Folks, this information isn’t provided to in any way down our veterans.  But to show that they have issues and problems and addictions like you and I do.  Maybe for different reasons but none the less they are real.  And to remind us of just how much we are indebted to our US veterans for all that they have forfeited for our country.

So, have you hugged a vet lately?  Have you told a vet Thank You for your service?  Have you bought a vet a meal?  In what better way could we do our service work than to help out a veteran and/or their family?  Not just at Veterans Day but every day.

Join us again soon.

Until then ……. be sure to tell a friend about us.

Thanks for visiting us – come back soon.

Remember:  “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but a thing!” 

  

Recovery - Part 5

Recovery: restoration or return to any former and better condition

Hello folks and welcome back.  I apologize about the abrupt change for our last post; we had a communications mix up. 

In our last discussion on Recovery we talked about the character trait of Honesty and how that this trait is the foundation of our Recovery effort. 

While open mindedness and willingness are vital to our Recovery journey, without rigorous honesty we won’t get too far.  As we have mentioned, if you can’t be honest with yourself, then how can you expect to Recover.

It’s one thing to come to in the morning and not remember much about last night and say “I need to stop doing this”. But it’s a whole different ballgame to stand in front of the mirror and admit to the person looking back at you “I’ve got a real problem and I need help.”

It’s that kind of honesty that is required in order to Recover.  However, experience has taught us that Not all of begin with this type of honesty.  Do not be discouraged.  If you are willing to go to any length to recover and will take the tools that have and will be made available to you, then you too can recover. 

As we have mentioned in our previous posts, no matter what your situation may be there is Hope.  But, open mindedness, willingness and honesty are essential to a successful Recovery Journey.

Through most of our previous posts we have attempted to encourage you and to provide you with a better understanding of Recovery.  Now it’s time to begin our discussion about addiction; what it is and how it affects us and those around us.

Join us again soon.

Until then ……. be sure to tell a friend about us.

Thanks for visiting us – come back soon.

Remember:  “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but a thing!” 

October - National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there are various activities planned nationwide for the month to support this cause.

The American Cancer Society provides excellent information on breast cancer.  The link below will take you to their site.

http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/MoreWaysACSHelpsYouStayWell/breastcancer

The American Cancer Society holds the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks and they get support from several national corporate sponsors.  Below is a list of some of their corporate sponsors.

Athena, Chevrolet, Lee, NFL, dressbarn, Longaberger, maurices, The Pampered Chef, cascade cart solutions, H & M, Lady Foot Locker, TangerOutlets, A.C. Moore, Wild Delight, Lowe’s, Pink Hair for Hope, Barclays, Chicago, Havertys, Paul Mitchell, 3M, Ace, Bridgestone and Pink Ride.

The link below will take you to a page where you can learn more about these corporate sponsors and their support for the cause of breast cancer.

http://www.cancer.org/Involved/Participate/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/breast-cancer-national-corporate-supporters

 

Recovery - Part 4

Recovery: restoration or return to any former and better condition

Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and denotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating or theft.

Welcome back folks.  Last time we left off discussing honesty and how that without exercising rigorous honesty you could not recover.

While this statement is true, it is not meant to be a discouragement to you.  From the beginning, this blog has endeavored to encourage you and to express that no matter what your situation is that there is Hope.  This is a true statement.  However, as we progress in the recovery process we will be discussing hard truths that just can’t be sugar coated.  “It is what it is” but nothing ever posted here is by no means meant to discourage anyone.  However, if we are not honest, Rigorously honest with you then we are doing you an injustice.

As we get deeper into this we will be discussing character traits and attributes in various forms.  Honesty is the foundation of all these and vital to recovery.  First, you must be able to be honest with yourself.  If you can’t stand in front of the mirror and be honest with the person looking back at you then how do you ever expect to recover?  You’ve got to be able to see, know and admit to yourself that You have a problem before you can get help with it.  It isn’t enough that your parents, spouse, boss, friends or even a judge tells you that you have a problem.  You’ve got to come to terms with it for yourself before recovery can take hold. 

This is not to say that for those of us with addiction issues being sentenced to meetings is of no avail.  We can learn a lot in these settings even when we don’t really want to be there -  Especially if we will exercise willingness and open-mindedness. But, for true recovery to take root and grow in us, we have to first honestly admit to ourselves that we have a problem.  

This is where we will pick up next time.

Join us again soon as we discuss more about Recovery and your comments about it. 

Until then ……. be sure to tell a friend about us.

Thanks for visiting us – come back soon.

Remember:  “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but a thing!” 

 

 

Recovery - Part 3

Recovery: restoration or return to any former and better condition

Last time we looked at a short list of what Recovery Is Not and we left off by introducing three character traits that are essential to your Recovery. 

Let’s take a brief look at these traits and their meaning.

         Willingness- Entering into a Recovery, rehab or 12 Step Program can be unsettling and scary.  You know - that element of the unknown and unfamiliar - the whole getting out of our comfort   zone thing.  This is understandable and that is why your “willingness”, your “freedom from reluctance” is so important.  If one is hesitant, if one’s mind is not ready to accept new ideas, then the probably of one’s success in Recovery is almost nil. 

         Open-mindedness – To best explain this term we will have to break it down.  First, open means to become receptive to knowledge.  Next, since mindedness isn’t in my dictionary we will use mind set.  This is a mental attitude that determines how one will interpret and respond to situations.  So putting them together for the purpose of Recovery, open-mindedness basically refers to one’s positive mental attitude toward being receptive to new knowledge.

         Honesty- Exercising this trait is where the rubber meets the road.  Honesty is the most important of these three traits.  Without rigorous honesty, with yourself first and then with others, you Will Not Recover.  Period!!

That is where we will pick it up next time..

Join us again soon as we discuss more about Recovery and your comments about it. 

Until then ……. be sure to tell a friend about us.

Thanks for visiting us – come back soon.

Remember:  “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but a thing!” 

   

Recovery - Part 2

Recovery: restoration or return to any former and better condition

Ok folks now that we’ve set some parameters, let’s get strapped in and embark on your journey of Recovery.

Since there seems to be a lot of misconceptions as to what Recovery actually is and what it involves, let’s start by taking a look at what Recovery isn’t. 

         Recovery IS NOT;

                  Attending meetings

                  Being clean and/or being sober

                 Getting a job

                 Saying “I’m sorry”

                 Attending church

                 Doing service work

                 Making restitution

                 Working the steps with a sponsor

While all these things are good and will help you on your Recovery Journey, of themselves they are not Recovery.  Being returned to any former and better condition involves much more that what is listed above.  The Recovery Journey does take time, energy, patience and discipline. 

But most importantly, Your success is dependent upon you giving yourself over to three character traits:  willingness, open mindedness and honesty.  If you will employ these into a planned program of action, Recovery is very possible for you.

Simple-just not easy.

Give this some thought for a bit and we’ll pick it up here next time.

Until then ……. be sure to tell a friend about us.

Thanks for visiting us – come back soon.

Remember:  “It is what it is and “it ain’t nothing but a thing!”