THE THRIVE SOBER BLOG

I USED TO CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY BY CUTTING OFF MY INDEPENDENCE – WITH BOOZE.

I will begin with a story that is unfolding in front of my very eyes as I type. It’s July 3^rd, Independence Day weekend, and people are ready to celebrate.

I stop as I type this and wonder how much there ...

Perhaps understanding how addiction hijacks your mind has given you clarity on why willpower will never be enough to get you sober for good. But perhaps it also made you feel a bit hopeless. 

I invite you to feel hopeful. Why? Because now you know what the problem is, and this problem has a s...

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...

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 ...

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...

I have to confess—I am feeling a bit off this Sunday morning as I write this. I over-indulged last night, and my body is feeling the effects. As my alarm went off at 7 am, I had a moment of panic as I realized my head hurt and my body felt a little off. Had I drank last night?

In the interlude betw...

The first time I got sober in 2009, my idea of “recovery” only pertained to my drinking. I didn’t see any other issue to personally recover from, other than the very clear toxic relationship I had with Cabernet (and Merlot, Chardonnay, Stella and all that gang). So long as I could find a way to stop...