Do you ever think to yourself, “Ok, I did some lousy stuff when I was drinking, but just how much do I have to atone for my bad behavior, and for how much longer?” I mean I’m not the only one who was prideful or wasteful or an unpleasant drunk, right? Enough is enough – […]
Category Archives: Successful Recovery
I was thinking about how easy it is to go from positive to negative thoughts. It’s almost like a default with me. Everything coming up roses? Focus on the dirt. I am actually training myself to think in a positive manner, by doing some brain exercises at work. We are implementing My Brain Solutions and I […]
I’m not talking about Equine Therapy, folks. A few weeks ago, I was at an old-fashioned country fair in Ellsworth, Michigan and they had what was billed as a “horse pull” in a park on the outskirts of town. If you have never seen a horse pull before, it involves teams of enormous, draft horses; […]
By looking into the photos on my phone I can see that I am walking in the woods… …Marilyn. Recently, I have noticed I am so busy trying to capture how awesome I have become, now that I’m sober, my phone or camera seems to get a better experience than I do. It started with the […]
Do you remember the overdose scene in Pulp Fiction where the guy shoves a needle into Mia’s heart and she does that freaky, bride of Frankenstein gasp and opens her eyes? Sanford House staff were being trained by an organization called the Red Project, to manage an opioid overdose with a drug called Naloxone, and Al said, “Is […]
I saw Kevin from Recovery Allies yesterday. I went to the impressive, Equine Coaching ranch called One Neigh at a Time, and after second guessing Siri and David’s hand drawn map and getting lost (hey Siri, I know I didn’t turn where you told me to turn before, but am I supposed to be on a one […]
Last night on the phone (after we dealt with yet another unintelligible crisis in her young life) Ellie asked me, “Miss Marilyn, are you happy?” I think that may be my new favorite interview question. It stopped me in my tracks. Recently, I have gotten comments from people who tell me my life in recovery finally […]
Kim sent me an aphorism this weekend. It was about the kind of friend I am – a cowgirl, blasting through a door with a shovel and a plan. I am that kind of friend and I have always been good in an emergency. The adage also mentions whiskey and the fact that some friends […]
I made up that number. But I’ve had a few meltdowns over the past three years. It seems that with each new season of my sobriety, I go great guns and then (as guns are want to do) I detonate and fizzle and as Dee’s grandma used to say, “take to my bed”. The last […]
So, I’m beachside in this tiki bar and a huge tumbler of chardonnay goes by; the waiter can barely carry it. The thing is so big and heavy, the liquid shifts side to side in his hand like waves – coming just to the top of the frosted glass without spilling. Kim sees it too, and gives […]