Do you find yourself avoiding scary feelings? Are you running away from things you don’t want to face? How are you facing your fears instead? Definitions We start our conversation with Kathy and Sabah with a couple of definitions, recognizing that pausing is healthy, while avoiding is usually not. Pause: interrupt action or speech briefly. –...

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Tradition 5 tells us that part of our recovery is in finding compassion for our alcoholic friends and relatives. What is compassion, and how is it different from sympathy or empathy? Definitions (from Chopra.com) To feel sympathy, it means you are able to understand what the person is feeling.  Empathy is viscerally feeling what another...

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How has music supported you in recovery? What inspiration do you find there? Are there certain songs that have become the soundtrack of your life? Sonia Lee is a singer and song writer in recovery. We talked about her recovery journey and her recovery songs. Sonia's recovery started when she realized she was alcoholic. But,...

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How have you experienced the effects of alcoholism or addiction transforming into the effects of recovery? Colleen suggested this topic, writing “we often hear about the effects of this disease, but I've never heard the phrase, the effects of recovery. It has really made me reflect, as I have found over the past couple of...

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What is it like to keep working your recovery program after divorcing? Pat joined Spencer to talk about her experience. She fully recognizes that both she and her ex-husband contributed to the factors leading to their divorce. She says that she “did not want my relationship to be the example to my children of what...

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Can CODA help when you grow up in dysfunction, and then love a controlling, gaslighting partner as an adult? As a child, Geraldine lived in fear of her mother's anger, which often resulted in beatings. She became her siblings' protector, and felt that it was her job to soothe her mother's moods, and to take...

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If Acceptance is the key to serenity, what do you do about unacceptable behavior and domestic violence? Kathy H joined the Recovery Show to talk about her experience with domestic violence, and the strength and hope she has found in recovery. We started with some definitions for unacceptable behavior and domestic violence. Definitions Definition of...

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How can recognizing powerlessness over a child’s addiction make it easier to detach and not enable them? Jacob joins us to tell his story and how he stopped trying fruitlessly to fix his son's addiction. He picked a couple of readings from ODAT — Jan 29 and Feb 11, saying that they have been and...

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Do you have trouble making decisions? What have you learned in recovery helps you make decisions? Eric, Spencer, and several of you share about indecision and making decisions. Our conversation was guided by these questions. Definition:  a choice that you make about something after thinking about several possibilities the ability to decide quickly and without...

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What is on your mind? This episode is built from your voices, sharing your experience, strength, and hope. Sharing your dilemmas and questions. Readings and Links Some of you sent suggestions of books or other resources. Many Voices, One Journey Al-Anon's story of growth and recovery as experienced by individual members and the fellowship as...

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