Tag Archives: recovery

The Degrees of Gratefulness…

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 – […]

Training My Brain to Think Positive…

  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 […]

Plow Horse Therapy

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; […]

Put Down the Camera and Enjoy Your Sobriety Real-Time…

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 […]

Recovery Question Number 1: Are You Happy?

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 […]

Don’t You Want Your Badass Friends to be Sober?

  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 […]

8 Reasons to Give a Wide Berth to the Summer Booze Cruise…

  I didn’t realize it was the first time I had been on a boat since I’ve been sober, until I was on a boat looking at the big white cooler that, on most watercraft, holds cold beer and wine… It was the first time in three years I was going for a boat ride that wasn’t a […]

So I’m Beachside in This Tiki Bar…

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 […]

Tricking Yourself Sober – GO LEFT!

  I have two stories about going left, and one conclusion: Story One I was in a therapy group one time, and a woman said that if she was driving down the street toward her house and the light was green on a certain street, she’d “go left” and drive past the ABC Liquor store. Of […]

Sober in The Bahamas? Really?

I Dated Captain Ron for Three Years

  I have a confession to make: I am a little afraid to go back to The Bahamas. It’s the land of “wine for breakfast” and “every day’s a holiday,” after all. I was looking through some old photographs this weekend, and I was back in Blue Heaven – I could smell the rust and salt. […]