Monday quotes

The people who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.
- Lloyd James

There are only two emotions: love - our natural inheritance, and fear - an invention of our minds which is illusory. Each instant of the day we choose between these two, and our choice determines the kind of day we have and how we will perceive the world.
- Gerald G. Jampolsky

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese proverb

We can only teach that which we are.
- Jean Jaurès

We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we do have - and not worrying about what we don't have.
- Ken Keyes Jr.

Life can only be understood backward, yet, it has to be lived forward.
- Søren Kierkegaard

Never, if possible, lie down at night without being able to say: I have made one human being, at least, a little wiser, a little happier, or a little better this day.
- Charles Kingsley

The basic principle of spiritual life is that our problems become the very place to discover wisdom and love.
- Jack Kornfield

Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.
- J. Krishnamurti

The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
- Michelangelo

It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.
- Molière

friday questions

have you ever made any promises
you failed to keep while in recovery?

what is your idea of the perfect vacation?

are you comfortable around family or
friends who drink?

do people still ask "why can't you
just have one drink?"

when angered, what coping skills do
you use to deal with it?

who understands your addiction the
most and least in your life?

how would you rate your progress
thus far in sobriety, on a scale from
one to ten?

a little humor

anger & resentments...

...we are told are dangerous and emotions
we cannot afford.

these are also normal human reactions
we cannot avoid.

the major factor for us in recovery,
is how we handle these situations.

when angered, we can pause without
lashing out. decide how important
is the person or event that ticks us off.

as for resentments, it helps to look
at our part, realize it serves no purpose
to hold on to the negative thoughts.

it's like setting yourself on fire and
hoping the other person chokes on the smoke.

monday quotes

Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.

- Emory Austin

God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails.

- Saint Augustine

I am responsible for my own wellbeing, my own happiness. The choices and decisions I make regarding my life directly influences the quality of my days.

- Kathleen Andrus

Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.

- Walter Anderson

Dream big dreams, then put on your overalls and go out and make the dreams come true.

- Fred Van Amburgh

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.

- James Allen

Life brings simple pleasures to us every day. It is up to us to make them wonderful memories.

- Cathy Allen

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.

- Leo Aikma

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

- Maya Angelou

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

- Susan B. Anthony

One reason why I don't drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time.

- Nancy Astor

A friend is someone who sees through you and still enjoys the view.

- Wilma Askinas

You have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative. Don't mess with "Mr. In-between".

- Louis Armstrong

Keep spiritually sound and be persistent. Persistence is the key. Just never stop believing in your dream.

- Deborah Aquila

monday quotes

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.

- Lauren Bacall

Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.

- Richard Bach

One must always maintain one's connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.

- Gaston Bachelard

You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.

- Joan Baez

There is a way to look at the past. Don't hide from it. It will not catch you - if you don't repeat it.

- Pearl Bailey

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.

- Lucille Ball

If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you'll end up not doing anything for anybody.

- Malcolm Bane

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

- Carl Bard

What Women Want: To be loved, to be listened to, to be desired, to be respected, to be needed, to be trusted, and sometimes, just to be held. What Men Want: Tickets for the world series.

- Dave Barry

An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.

- Orlando A. Battista

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

- Samuel Beckett

When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.

- Alexander Graham Bell

How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.

- Edward F. Benson

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

- Milton Berle

It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.

- Jim Bishop

friday questions

what's your opinion about mothers
who also have jobs outside the home?

how important is exercise in your
recovery?

do you use music for meditation?

why is long term sobriety so elusive?

antidepressants

Stanton Peele writes;

I know, some qvetches will claim that antidepressant use will continue to grow since drugs don't get to the core discontents of our era - especially considering that the fastest growing consumers of these and other psychiatrics meds are young Americans, and people don't easily ?stop taking these drugs. Why can't these stupid people absorb the reality that depression is simply a lifetime disease, and the more people we get on drugs, and the more quickly, the happier we will all be? (The same issue of the Archives had an article focussing on depression among preschoolers.)

my question to Mr. Peele is "what alternatives do you suggest for these "lifetime disease" sufferers of depression?


we all know anti-depressants don't work for everyone;
but there are numerous cases of people who's lives
have been saved by SSRI's.

clinical depression is not just a case of the blues

the complexity of the interaction between neurotransmitters
serotonin and norepinephrine is not manageable with
diet, exercise, prayer or 12 step programs .

I challenge anyone to tell me how I feel without
the use of antidepressants.

it is a black hole and a feeling of hopelessness
that cannot be alleviated by meetings, prayer,
sponsors or mere abstinence

tuesday posters

monday quotes

Possession of material riches, without inner peace, is like dying of thirst while bathing in a lake.

- Paramahansa Yogananda

A half truth is a whole lie.

- Yiddish proverb

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.

- Henny Youngman

The greatness of a man can nearly always be measured by his willingness to be kind.

- G. Young

Such is human psychology that if we don't express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.

- Lin Yü-tang

It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.

- Zig Ziglar

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

- Joseph Addison