Early addiction recovery is a very marvelous time!
Yes! It is! Our thinking clears up, our emotions come alive, the sky is bluer, colors are brighter, food tastes better and life starts to get good! I mean really good!
That is all just marvelous. The danger I see in early addiction recovery becoming over-confident in our ability to deal effectively in the ‘real world’. We tend to move much too quickly toward ‘independence’, that is, we don’t need the steps, don’t need meetings, don’t need a sponsor! After all, we have are sober and in control!
While this attitude can be exciting, invigorating; not knowing one’s limitations in the early phase of recovery is all too often a setup for disaster. In the early recovery stage we tend to take on far more than we are capable of handling. Our addictive mindset is imposes unworkable time frame for getting things done, for changing circumstances, and especially for entering or repairing relationships. We want it done yesterday. Instead, we can avoid relapse by establishing stability by selecting and using the right tools from recovery toolkit.
Keep it fresh…take baby steps…walking and running will come in time!
Love Day
Got a call from Houston, a long time friend, but one I don’t speak with often…perhaps not often enough.
Houston, I said, how nice to hear from you! How are you?!
“Just fine,” he said. “And you?”
Great! So, what’s going on with you these days, I asked?
“Nothing…same ol’ drag!:
“How was Valentine's Day?!?”
Kind of a long pause…then Houston replied, “Just another day, far as I can see, why?”
Oh, just curious, I said. Did you buy candy and jewelry, and stuff?
“No, why should I?” he asked.
It’s Love Day, man! What’s up with you?
Houston, was quiet again, then: “Got a couple of questions for you.”
OK, shoot!
Houston began, “Will you buy candy and jewelry and stuff the rest of the year?
Do you love the person more on February 14th than any other day of the year?
What do you expect in exchange for your ‘gifts’ Why do you think you’re deserving?
What will you do on the 15th, or 16th, how about on May 3rd?”
Then he said, “Ponder on these and get back to me later!
But…wait, I stammered.
Click!
It’s February 15th, where is the love?
Forget Everything And Run…
Is one of the acronyms for FEAR…I’m particularly drawn to: False Evidence Appearing Real. Hundreds of quotes by the famous and the not-so-famous tout the latter to be the case has been my experience and has always just made sense (even when I didn’t subscribe so wholeheartedly to the definition!).
A fear cycle: “When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you... When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you... When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you... Now that I love you, I'm afraid to lose you.” Anonymous
Looks like each of ‘Anonymous’s ‘afraid ofs’ just didn’t happen. Think about the last time you were fearful of something…did it happen? Did you survive it? Was it ‘real’?
Face your fears…change your life...Live your life!
MS Office 2010
I’ve been checking out the 2010 beta version of MS Office and have found a number of interesting additions and enhancements. My focus to this point has been on Excel and I like! The first change I noticed was that ‘File’ is back! Woo hoo!
When teaching intermediate or advanced Word 2007, a number of students have asked if they can change the tabs or add a tab of their own…nope, no can do. Well, now let me tell you in the 2010 release CAN DO!
I like PivotTables! (I know…weird!) A really neat enhancement: “Slicer”!! It is so cool…Stay tuned…just getting started! More about this next time!
Peace and Happy Thanksgiving!!!
No surprises!
Bruce Johnson’s recent ‘Accelerated Growth Caffeine Issue #79’ reminds me of my first civilian supervisory position. Had 13 people who were responsible for writing/maintaining the company's operating procedures...might say I was the supervising editor.
So, it is evaluation time for one of the writers and I'm busily preparing the evaluation and she's pacing the isle! I don't know what's wrong and not really paying close attention.
All of a sudden, she runs back to my desk, slams her fist on it and says, "If you're been waiting until now to tell me I've not doing my job...well, I don't know what I'll do! I know that's not right! And that's what Mary (I took Mary’s place when she was promoted) did!”
I asked, 'What have I told you all along about your performance? Proverbial, pregnant pause, "That I'm doing well and that I need to improve on my spelling and learn some new words." ‘So, have you strayed from that?' I asked. "No, I've been working on it and you said I'm getting better." So, you might say, ‘we’re on the same page’? “Yes…” ‘And I can get back to work and you too?’ Smiling now, “Yes.”
Lesson learned: Employee evaluation is an ongoing activity and should provide frequent feedback…avoid surprises! In preparing the formal, written employee evaluation, there should never, say it with me, never be any surprises, especially of the unpleasant type!
Well, I’ll be…!!
Some auto racing competitions require participating vehicles to be available for sale to the general public, and not be custom made for racing. The process of homologation verifies this. The initials GTO listed after some auto names (Ferrari, Pontiac, etc.) mean "Gran Turismo Omologato", Italian for "Grand Touring, Homologated". Source: http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html
And all this time I thought GTO was 'gas, tires, and oil'!!
Learning's a wonderful thing!
Triskaidekaphobia
Triskaidekaphobia -- an irrational or obsessive fear of the number 13.
Beyond what the great learned masses say about it, I've never quite gotten a grip on just why one would be afraid of a number...any number. But, there are those of use mere mortals who do, serving to increase the coffers of psychoanalysts, counselors, psychiatrist, et al. So, I guess it's a good thing, at least from their perspective.
We are all, I'm told 'afeared' of something...everybody afraid of something. I've not been able to lay a finger on my own, so, since I have to have at least one, I've decided to be fearful of fear...as in "I've nothing to fear but fear itself." Having come to believe that those thing I've feared most have NOT come to past, I tagged my fears 'irrational' and have plowed blindly through life ever since. When did I make this declaration? Don't know for certain, but I'm reasonably certain it came to me around my 10th year of sobriety. Sobriety is a wonderful thing!
Enjoy the day...fearlessly!
Uphold the Foundation of the Universe
"Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence -- neither speed up nor slow down, add to nor diminish -- it is an imponderably valuable gift. Each of us has a few minutes a day or a few hours a week which we could donate to an old folks home or a children's hospital ward. The elderly whose pillows we plump or whose water pitchers we refill may or may not thank us for our gift, but the gift is upholding the foundation of the universe." ~ Maya Angelou
Give back. Study Maya Angelou’s quote…since you can’t add to it, take away from it, or otherwise time, your best effort then would be in wise time management. Your time allocation is the exact same as everybody else’s: 24 hours, 7 days each week, just 168 hours a week. Take two of those hours and give to someone or some cause and ‘uphold the foundation of the universe”.
Inaugural
Welcome to the inaugural post to the "Philosophical Meanderings of Neo-Neanderthal". What may immediately come to mind is why the title? Simple: I like this set of words strung together in this order! The blog is about Life, Learning, and Recovery...not necessarily in that order and not necessarily all the time. We'll see how it goes over time. Your feedback is appreciated!