When my little sister shot and killed her husband, my older sister thought it was because she drank too much whiskey. She sent her a case of wine, thinking that it was the whiskey that caused the trouble, and wine would be much safer. We alcoholics frequently have the...
Every Wednesday, I teach classes on addiction and mental health at a residential program in downtown San Antonio for men and women who have been recently homeless. I have the men for an hour, and then the women. A new woman came early for class. She had picked up a...
“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” – Step 6 from the Al-Anon Family Groups I recently caught someone, who I love, in a lie. It hurt. Hurt wasn’t the first emotion to appear: anger was. Of course, anger does a really...
There are struggles we will face in sobriety. Getting sober is not a guarantee that life will be void of trouble. On the contrary, life will be life. Life will have its ups and downs, its triumphs and tribulations, its ebb and flow. What we are guaranteed with...
One of the great challenges for those still struggling with alcohol and drug dependency – and even for those in long-term recovery – is surrendering to a power greater than ourselves. Giving up the internal battle to control our own lives and letting...