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Tag Archives: stories

What’s This Spiritual Malady?

2020by Heidi

Sick of the sprees (alcohol, drugs, food, sex, spending, gambling, etc) and wanting something other than defeating obsessions and thoughts of suicide…

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Step 1 Tips, Thinking Outside The Bottle: 12 Steps for Anyone

Can I Weep With Those Who Weep?

2020by Heidi

I’m not loving you if I try to brush aside your tears

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Step 1 Tips, Thinking Outside The Bottle: 12 Steps for Anyone

What Am I Living For?

2020by Heidi

If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live…

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Step 1 Tips, Thinking Outside The Bottle: 12 Steps for Anyone

Step 1: How Do I Start?

2020by Heidi

You don’t have to be an addict or even know one to take the 12 Steps

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12 Steps, Step 1 Tips, Thinking Outside The Bottle: 12 Steps for Anyone

Whad Ya Mean… Self-Seeking?

2020by Heidi

Like traveling without any running lights…

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Step 4 Tips

A Brain Reboot for the Venomous Virus

2020by Heidi

I’ve got several phrases that help me.

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AA, Step 11 Tips

Mocking Bird-Brain

2020by Heidi

Knowing my brain acts like a Mockingbird, I have cut down on what I pay attention to.

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Step 1 Application

Get Into The Cartoon!

2020by Heidi

… a typical Saturday with Loony Toons, the two of us in our footie pajamas eating breakfast as we sat so close we were in the action.

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Step 1 Application

Quiet Space in Bright Sunshine

2020by Heidi

In fact, my lack of emotional sobriety happened long before the first taste of alcohol.

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Step 1, Step 1 Tips

This is a test. This is only a test…right?

2020by Heidi

If this had been an actual emergency…

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Step 1 Application

Step 10 and the Not So Scary Worksheet Part 1: Anger is Just the Wrapping

2020by Heidi

Nearly any day contains prime resentment opportunities.

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AA, Step 10 Tips

Clean Sweep

2020by Heidi

Pick up a broom and give it a whirl!

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AA, Step 12 Application

What Is God’s Will?

2020by Heidi

I no longer feel I have to ‘prove’ anything to you or to me

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AA, Step 1 Tips

Double Overtime

2020by Heidi

It IS whether you win or lose!

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AA, Step 1, Step 1 Application

Not in My Wheelhouse

2020by Heidi

After cleaning out my wheelhouse I find I’m a little lonely…

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AA, Al-Anon, Step 1 Tips

God As We Understood Him

2020by Heidi

Thinking, learning, figuring things out with my pea brain…

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Step 2, Step 2 Tips

Little Fists Solution

2020by Heidi

Little Fists happen when I start to criticize myself.

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Step 2 Tips

Hashtag Sandy

2020by Heidi

Just between you and me, I’ve always been a little crazy during and around a full moon….

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AA, Step 10, Step 10 Application

Step 2: Digging From the Quarry of the Past

2020by Heidi

When I’m digging into the quarry of the past, I’m entering the insanity of mining my history…

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AA, Step 2 Application, Step 2 Tips

Step 4: Part 8 Talkin’ Trash and Sex

2020by Heidi

I grew up in the 50s–a time when sex education had not yet been invented.

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12 Steps, AA, Step 4 Tips

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

2020by Heidi

My life would make a better movie than it does a life.

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AA, Step 1 Application

Step11: Where Are You From?

2020by Heidi

Possibly behind the presenting question is the thought: “You’re not one of us, are you?” I’m not sure why we react to ‘foreigners’ this way, but it’s human nature to try to align the ‘us’ from the ‘them’. We separate out the locals from the others like sorting through the box of puzzle pieces for the border.

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12 Steps, Step 11, Step 11 Application

Step 4: Dirty Urchins, Raggedy People and Drunks

2020by Heidi

Everything was dirty, broken, piled up and rusty. I kept gagging…

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12 Steps, Step 4 Application

Is Your God Silent? Are you?

2020by Heidi

Before I got sober at the age of 55, I was trapped by an ice storm at an abbey near Dubuque, in NE Iowa. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. […]

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Spirituality, Step 3 Tips

Unconflicted and Better Than a Hallelujah

2020by Heidi

I agree with Chaz and his Unconflicted post. I am unconcerned about Bill’s personal life. He was a tool for getting the Biblical principles into our hands. I was not […]

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AA Big Book, Reblogged Inspiration, Step 12 Application

Should You Tell Children About Alcoholism in the Family?

2020by Heidi

I recently read a blog entry about an alcoholic death of a grandparent. The blogger, whom I respect for his honesty and vulnerability, asked if the grandchild (his daughter) should […]

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Addiction and Relationships, Relating to Addicts

Angry Birds Words 2: Level Failed

2020by Heidi

The games of Angry Birds and Angry Words are both frustrating and fascinating time drains. Whether you are a wet alcoholic (still drinking) or a dry alcoholic (not drinking or […]

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Relationship Skills

What’s Your Struggle?

2020by Heidi

How do you feel about being an addict, co-dependent or having cancer? I’ve been asking this question and my favorite answer so far is below. Even though this dear friend […]

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Sober Living, Step 1 Tips, Step 12

Batter-y-up!

2020by Heidi

Given that the word why is used over 90 times in the Big Book of AA and in the 12×12, I assume it’s a big question for a lot of us.

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Step 2 Tips

Lipstick Forgiveness

2020by Heidi

When I was 5, my best friend and I got matching tubes of candy lipstick.

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12 Steps, Step 5 Application

Stop! Go!

2020by Heidi

Can I even think my way out of a paper bag? Nope.

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Sober Living, Step 6 Tips

Unhappiness: Part 1 The Way Out

2020by Heidi

What I wanted was for God to solve my unhappiness. When that didn’t happen I did a number of things that made me feel worse!

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Sober Living, Step 6 Tips

Unique Self: Part 8 The Little Engine Meets Reality

2020by Heidi

I was deceived by the Little Engine That Could!

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Sober Living, Step 3 Application

Unique Self: Part 7 – I Think Not

2020by Heidi

When I was little there was a book and a song about the Little Engine That Could. I realize the intent was to eliminate negative self-talk. But AA has taught […]

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Sober Living, Unique Self Series

Unique Self Part 6: Prism Perceptions B

2020by Heidi

* Suddenly, I want to contact people from my past. I’m 57. Looking back on my early years, I know enough now to realize that I must have been very […]

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Sober Living, Unique Self Series

Unique Self: Part 5 Perception Prisms A

2020by Heidi

In the Summer of 2008 I was sitting in a chapel beside a stain glass window that shed golden tones over my face, my hair and my hands clasped in […]

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Sober Living, Unique Self Series

Unique Self: Part 4 Some Answers

2020by Heidi

B. You accept who you are by beginning to find your unique self Yesterday we looked at some questions to help us learn a bit more about our unique identity. […]

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Sober Living, Unique Self Series

Unique Self: Part 3 Question Yourself

2020by Heidi

What do you want to be remembered for when you die?

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Sober Living, Unique Self Series

The Unique Self: Part 2, I Need…I Need

2020by Heidi

I watched What About Bob? The very well-delivered line ‘I want, I want, I want…I need, I need, I need’ struck home with me.

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12 Steps, Unique Self Series

Navigating LIfe’s Difficulties:The Next Two Turns

2020by Heidi

My son has owned an independent trucking business for several years. He started it before GPS was commonly available. Knowing I struggle with navigation, he gave me a piece of […]

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Sober Living, Step 3 Tips

Stop! Go to Step 3

2020by Heidi

I don’t think it matters whether your life path winds between empty bottles, baggies and syringes or is decorated by framed degrees and certificates of completion—or both. The message of […]

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12 Steps, Step 3 Tips

Irish Serenity Prayer: Part 3 Personal Relationships

2020by Heidi

I have voluntarily given my liberty to God. I am not going to voluntarily give that liberty to anyone else ever again. I tried that and inevitably it led to […]

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Sober Living, Step 3 Tips

Irish Serenity Prayer: Part 1 Battle for Liberty

2020by Heidi

When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not […]

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Spirituality, Step 3 Tips

Alcoholics and Half-baked Relationships Part 6: Manipulating the Ingredients

2020by Heidi

Welcome to life with an alcoholic! Life with a dry (not sober) alcoholic is a challenge. I should know, I’m a recovering alcoholic and I’m still a challenge. Before I […]

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Addiction and Relationships, Sober Living

Alcoholics and Half-baked Relationships Part 5: Conflicting Recipes

2020by Heidi

If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wishes, the show would be great. Everybody, including himself, would be pleased. Life would be wonderful. […]

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Addiction and Relationships, Sober Living

Alcoholics and Half-baked Relationships Part 4: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

2020by Heidi

Lies and deceitful games have nothing to do with the shared reality and richness of intimacy. True intimacy in relationships is reserved for people who are determined to hear and […]

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Addiction and Relationships, Sober Living

Alcoholics and Half-baked Relationships Part 2: Why the Drama?

2020by Heidi

I never made a lot of bread until I got a machine to knead it for me because I have very weak arms. It is not fun to knead bread […]

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ACOA, Addiction and Relationships, Sober Living

Alcoholics and Half-baked Relationships Part 1: Recipe

2020by Heidi

I love to make bread. If it didn’t stick to my belly, I’d bake all the time.

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ACOA, Addiction and Relationships, Al-Anon, CODA, Sober Living

Hitting The Panic Button

2020by Heidi

I then did what any self-respecting mom would do. I called the kid.

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Humor, Sober Living, Step 6 Application

Seeing Life Through the Prism of the AA Experience

2020by Heidi

A lot of the readers of Good Life know my Dad’s funeral was this week. I posted my tribute a few days before his death. This has made me acutely […]

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AA Meetings

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