A series of blogs from recovery coach Beth Burgess of Smyls. Beth has written articles about addiction recovery for the Huffington Post which means she has had a large audience.
A Letter to Alcohol
Beth wrote this piece in her early recovery. ‘Dear Alcohol, Well it’s been a while now, and although you are a bad influence, I do miss you sometimes. I miss our secret relationship, the way that no-one else was part of it and could never get in on it…’
Are you a Victim of ‘Compare and Despair’?
‘Much of our unhappiness comes from comparing ourselves to where we think we should be, or where others are, rather than seeing what is positive about our own reality. Instead of trying to keep up with the Joneses, we should be focusing on ourselves and ploughing our unique furrow..’ [Huffington Post]
No-one is broken, just lost
‘From around the age of nineteen, I considered myself a broken person; I was an alcoholic, a prostitute and was plagued by a crippling anxiety disorder. Little did I know that one day it would all be resolved, proving that nothing about me was broken, only lost…’ [Huffington Post]
Shouting recovery from the rooftops
‘…I’m going to step up. I’m going to shout my recovery from the rooftops. Even if I am one of the few lone voices doing so right now, I have to do it – for you, for me and for every addict who wants to recover and is afraid to ask for help because of the stigma…’ [Wired In To Recovery]
Solving addiction lies in empowerment, not shame
‘…One of the purposes of the Recovery Walk is to show people that addiction is an illness, not a lifestyle choice. It’s not about being weak-willed or immoral. It’s a mental, emotional and physiological disorder that requires a Herculean effort to beat it…’ [New Statesman]
What Amy Winehouse’s Birthday Means to Me
‘I was 27 when I decided to stop drinking; the same age at which Amy Winehouse sadly died while in the throes of her own battle with the booze. Although I didn’t find immediate recovery after my initial decision to quit, I was already sober when Amy’s death was announced in July 2011…’ [Huffington Post]
And why not check out Beth’s Recovery Story?
