Just after takeoff from Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport (MSP), a seatmate asked my destination. I was visiting a cousin in Germany. He was on his way home from an Oregon vacation. We were both relaxed and free of the scowls on the faces of business class passengers. Finding common ground with friendly people is a bonus| The Phoenix Spirit
Yes, another year — 2023 — is in the books — a tough and challenging year for many of us. The calendar has now shifted us into a New Year — 2024. This shift into a New Year often raises the practice of making some resolutions for the New Year. Many times, if we make| The Phoenix Spirit
Month: January 2019| thephoenixspirit.com
Myths are metaphoric stories that can inspire or demean us. Believing in magical elves in forests may make our imaginations soar; thinking that people with dark skin are inferior to us only devalues us. The most destructive myths are those that operate in our lives while remaining unexamined. They do bad things to us without| The Phoenix Spirit
Esteemed recovery historian, scholar and advocate William White notes that the concept and principles of peer recovery support has deep roots extending back to the original mutual self-help group Alcoholics Anonymous and spanning forward from that time to be a fundamental aspect of the substance use recovery movement. In 2019 Peer Recovery Support Services (PRSS)| The Phoenix Spirit
There are many aspects that can be helpful in moving us from addictive thinking and behavior to recovery. In this article, I would like to focus on two aspects that have become important in my recovery journey as well as in those of a number of people I know. They are: making choices and being| The Phoenix Spirit
In seeking to address the topic of hope today, I feel especially challenged as there seems to be so much frustration, hopelessness and powerlessness swirling around these days. These feelings are related to the continuing effects of Covid and now the flu; the rising costs of everyday items such as food and gasoline along with| The Phoenix Spirit
“Hope is passion for what is possible”. Søren Kierkegaard I am looking into the New Year with a hopeful gaze. As a glass-half-full person, I grab for ribbons of hope rather than entangle myself in webs of despair. Moving into a new year and a new decade I ask myself, what gives me hope? Greta Thunburg,| The Phoenix Spirit
How to experience relationships, confidently and peacefully, has been at the core of my writing since my first book, Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women, was published in 1982. It makes sense when one considers my history: I was the third child in a family of four children with an angry, chronically| The Phoenix Spirit
Gaming disorder, recently recognized by the World Health Organization as a disease, affects only a small proportion of people who engage in digital- or video-gaming activities. But for those affected, the addiction can be all-consuming, controlling the mind. Gaming addict Julian Struksheats tells his story in this interview with The Phoenix Spirit. The interview has| The Phoenix Spirit
I haven’t always been known as a person in recovery, as a matter of fact a label that many knew me as is would be addict, meth-head, felon, thief, liar, and many more. I spent 14 long years loyal to a drug that should have killed me. Yet, I stand. My Life Then By the| The Phoenix Spirit
It's all very simple. You set a goal for yourself; you determine how you'll meet that goal, and then you follow some tried-and-true strategies that will help you reach it. Will power! That's all you need. Determination. Discipline. Ah, if the road to recovery were only that easy. Anyone reading this article, anyone recovering from| The Phoenix Spirit
Older people can find plenty of reasons to drink alcohol or use other addictive drugs to excess. Pain relief. Isolation and loneliness. Feelings of boredom and uselessness after retirement. Loss after loss after loss. For some, it’s simply a decades-old habit. What’s hard to do is to stop using addictive substances when they are ruining| The Phoenix Spirit
I have been in recovery for almost thirty years and have been part of a 12 Step group for the same amount of time. In this article, I would like to share some struggles I have had with the idea of Higher Power – an important concept in recovery through the lenses of the 12| The Phoenix Spirit