“Faith is not knowledge of what the mystery of the universe is, but the conviction that there is a mystery, and that it is greater than us.” Rabbi David Wolpe
A large old church sat surrounded by ancient gravestones. Norman followed directions on its side gate to “NA meeting in rectory room on Tuesdays.” He usually [...]
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“Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.” Christian Morgenstern, German poet
Sometimes we live where we do not feel at home. It’s said that anywhere is a prison when you don’t want to be there.
Let’s say you’ve rented an apartment and find the neighbors [...]
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“Forget meeting someone and falling in love, how about meeting someone and ‘growing’ in love?” Unknown
One of the most wonderful things that can happen to you is falling in love. One of the most terrible things that can happen to someone in recovery is falling in lust.
Knowing the difference takes more objectivity [...]
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Some people worry about their alcohol use but are not convinced that they need help. Friends or relatives might express their concern–”You have a drinking problem.” But often that well-intentioned statement fails to define the issue or suggest a clear solution.
To cut through the confusion, it helps to understand the difference between alcohol [...]
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Alcoholics Anonymous was born more than 63 years ago, on June 10, 1935, the day Dr. Bob S., a well-known surgeon, quit drinking for good with the help of Bill W. By 1946, AA had grown from two to 24,000 members. As is usually the case, with growth came growing pains. Groups were springing up [...]
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The authors of “Alcoholics Anonymous” described fear as an “evil corroding thread” and added that “the fabric of our existence was shot through with it.”
Today, we don’t have to be alcoholics or drug addicts to identify with those words. Instead, we can just follow the reports of terrorism. Reflecting on them or the [...]
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Bill W., cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, was hospitalized three times for alcoholism. The third time Bill’s doctor offered a blunt diagnosis: If Bill’s drinking continued, he had one year to live. Bill’s options were clear: death, insanity or sobriety.
Bill chose sobriety.
Eager to share what he’d learned, Bill drafted a book. Alcoholics Anonymous (published [...]
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“I started to wake up in the middle of the night to have a cigarette,” recalled Barry, a recovering alcoholic. “I could almost set my clock by it. About 2:30 every morning I’d need to wake up and have a cigarette before I’d go back to sleep. That scared me.”
This was reason enough to [...]
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No one says that quitting tobacco is easy. But if you smoke and want to quit, you can draw on more sources of help than ever before.
According to the American Lung Association, over 44 million Americans have quit. Most of them tried several times before they succeeded. But they quit for good.
Dr. Michael [...]
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There is no one right way to quit smoking. However, people who succeed at quitting consistently do the following things:
1. Set a quit date.
Setting a date too far in the future allows time to talk yourself out of quitting. To increase your odds of success, set a quit date for some time within [...]
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