THE THRIVE SOBER BLOG

Our mind is our own personal operating system. It’s the “command center” which has the programs that run our life. Our mind’s programs are supposed to protect us from harm, to keep us surviving and thriving. 

But then. 

Addiction arrives into our life and installs itself in our mind. Like...

We don’t talk enough about all the feelings that happen in early sobriety. 

I've talked about committing to The Deep Yes, taking a first step, and understanding the elements of "The Work" of recovery (A Program, A Toolkit, A Community). I've also talked a lot about what happens in early recov...

I’ve talked about making a deep, personal commitment to a new life with “The Deep Yes.” I’ve discussed the importance of following the decision we take with immediate action.

You’ve made the commitment to make a change. Now, the game’s on. We’re done half-assing good intentions, and it’s time...

After your “Deep Yes” then the “What Next?” moment, it’s about ACTION.

Recovery is - and always will be - a verb. I used to think that once I made the decision to quit drinking, my life would magically change. I can now see that part of why I failed at many attempts to sobriety is because my ...

“What next?” is where good intentions come to die. 

“What next?” is where most of us who struggle with addiction get stuck. Addiction robs us of the power to do “Next.” We make grand decisions in our heads to finally make a change.

We only take action when our mind and body gives us a gre...

I’d had 5 years of sobriety the day I found myself in the parking lot of a CVS, pouring warm Chardonnay down my throat. That was the first day of my relapse: a two-year tumble back down the rabbit hole of addiction. 

Two years is more than 700 days. At least half of those mornings, I woke up vowing...

It was such an honor to appear on the SHE RECOVERS Podcast! I love any chance to connect with Taryn or Dawn, and their podcast honors and works through the idea that everyone is recovering from something.

In this interview, I talked about the ways that my past trauma detonated my use of alcohol, an...

I often get questions about what I do and why someone would want a recovery coach when programs like AA are free. My job is to complement a program of recovery, adding a whole new layer on top of your sponsor—something more high level.

An important note here: I am a child of AA. I’ve done the prog...

This story is part two of my most recent post about what recovery in action looks like for me right now. Read it here.

Less than a month ago at lunchtime, while at work, I went up to the skyline - the one open-aired place in the building I used to call home. I sat on a chair under the sun, sweating...

Two weeks ago, my job became a soft-casualty of Covid-19. I say soft because of the many, many people who came down with the virus and lost much more than me. Me, I got laid off unexpectedly. From one day to another, my executive salary disappeared. Like millions of Americans who live paycheck to pa...

Today, my nails tell the tale of the One animal we are - a collective of humans within a surreal chapter of life. Look at them. Look at us. Growing. Changing. Shedding our polish. Unbecoming. Becoming real. Below the hard, shiny shell - showing the world who we are. Transparent and vulnerable. Hones...

I am writing to you wrapped in blankets, cradled on a hammock under pine trees, in the middle of an East Texas forest.  The air is chill, the sky is deep blue and my cellphone has zero bars. Zero. It’s bliss. You have permission to mildly hate me.

I brought myself to a retreat in the woods to welco...