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PRINCIPLES: ADDICTION & RECOVERY TIPS & TALKS
        Vol.1, No.22                         October 6, 2000     
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=====TABLE OF CONTENTS=====

=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS
=====READERS' TWO CENTS' WORTH
=====THINGS YOU ALREADY KNEW, BUT...
=====TIP & TALK FEATURE ARTICLE
=====SPONSOR'S SPIEL
=====AN EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY
=====FEATURED LINK OF THE WEEK
=====PURE BOLOGNA & HOGWASH
=====SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE / COMMENT


=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS=====

PUBLICATION: Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips & 
Talks is published every Friday morning by Charles
Roper, the owner & author of Alcohol & Drug Abuse - 
The Addiction & Recovery Information & Resources 
Web site. Please pay the site a visit.
http://alcoholanddrugabuse.com

DISTRIBUTION: Principles is distributed only to 
subscribers. If you have received this newsletter by 
mistake, please accept our apologies, and find 
UNSUBSCRIBE instructions at the bottom of this page.

PRIVACY: I will NEVER publish, give, loan, or sell your 
e-mail address to anyone. Never - No way - No how.

Thanks...Charles Roper


=====READERS' TWO CENTS' WORTH=====

Positive Feedback (Ahh...):

Dear Charles,
 
I really love your newsletter. My husband is an alcoholic, 
and he is seeing a substance abuse counselor today for an 
evaluation. I came across your web site when I began to 
search out information on alcohol addiction. I want to help 
him where I can without getting in his way. Your newsletter 
is helping me alot. Thank you for the eastern perspective. 
I really enjoy that, and the links too. I'm sure other people 
are feeling support from your newsletter too even though they 
don't write to let you know. Like me, they probably just 
assumed you knew. Hopefully your request for feedback will 
get you some e-mails because you should know how much you 
are reaching people. Thank you! 
---C... 

Not so positive feedback (Ouch...):

1. I started a new job, and I don't have time for a lot of 
extra e-mail.
2. I see your newsletter as little more than a promotion for 
your book and an ego stroke for yourself.
---T...


=====THINGS YOU ALREADY KNEW, BUT...=====
	
"When one door closes, another door opens; but we so often 
look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that 
we do not see the ones which open for us."
---Alexander Graham Bell 


=====TIP & TALK FEATURED ARTICLE=====

RECOVERY TIP: 

We gain insight and move through denial progressively--piece
by piece by piece, and if we're diligent (and a little lucky), 
the process never ends.

RECOVERY TIP TALK: 

Edwin entered substance abuse treatment following an interven-
tion in which his entire family participated.

The intervention nudged him through his first level of denial. 
Prior to being confronted by every member of his family, he
had steadfastly maintained that his drinking was simply none 
of anyone else's damn business.

Edwin's first week in treatment moved him through his second 
level of denial. He admitted that he drank larger quantities 
of alcohol than he should and that he did so more often than 
he should.

By the beginning of week three, Edwin had taken another step.
He acknowledged that he had, indeed, tried to control his 
drinking--both in terms of quantity and frequency--and had 
failed repeatedly in those efforts. Furthermore, he admitted
having felt uncomfortable with, guilty about, and confused by 
his failures.

Edwin stalled out, however, when confronted with the term
"powerless." Smiling defensively and shaking his head back
and forth, he said, "I'm not powerless over anything. All I 
have to do is try harder, and I'll succeed. Powerlessness is
for wimps and girls."

The counselor asked, "Edwin, is there anything at all in your 
life that you find yourself unable to accomplish despite your
best efforts?"

Edwin thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No, I
don't think so," he said.

"Come on; think hard," the counselor challenged. "There's got 
to be something that you would like to be or do that's not
possible for you."

Edwin laughed quietly and said, "Okay, just for the sake of 
argument, here's one for you. I'd like to be able to sit and
enjoy a great big bowl of fresh, ripe strawberries. But if I 
did, chances are I'd wind up in the emergency room because I'm 
allergic to the damn things. It doesn't happen every single 
time, but generally speaking, I break out in hives at two or 
three and lose my breath at six or so."

The counselor's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Well, if you have 
a negative reaction to strawberries, why do you continue to eat
them?"

"Oh, I don't eat them anymore," Edwin countered. "No, man, I 
learned that lesson a long time ago. I mean, I love them, but
I won't put one anywhere near my mouth. No, sir...no straw-
berries for this boy. It ain't worth it."

Well, the rest of this story is surely obvious. Edwin's counselor
patiently drew a simple analogy between Edwin's powerlessness
over strawberries and his powerlessness over alcohol. 

"Eat strawberries...enjoy them briefly...experience negative
consequences more times than not...can't change the outcome 
despite strong will-power."

"Drink alcohol...enjoy it briefly...experience negative
consequences more times than not...can't change the outcome 
despite strong will-power."

The analogy knocked Edwin's feet right out from under him. He 
got it. And because he got it, he was able to let a door close.

Fortunately for him and his family, Edwin also let another door 
open. He's still sober two years following four weeks in treatment.
And he's still gaining insight. Things he once thought were true 
are no longer true. Things he once thought were silly and stupid 
are no longer silly and stupid. He's not the same man he was the
day of the intervention. He's a better man.

I ask you now...do miracles ever cease?


=====SPONSOR'S SPIEL=====

High Bottom Drunk: A Novel...and the Truth about Addiction 
& Recovery, by Charles N. Roper, PhD.

Five years in the writing and two more in production and distri-
bution. Do I believe in this book's message? You bet I do. Do I
think it can make a difference in people's lives? Absolutely. Do
I want people to buy it, read it, and share it's message with
others? You're damn right I do.

Please take a moment to check it out:
http://www.highbottomdrunk.com


=====AN EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY=====

There's a famous Zen story about a learned university professor
of oriental studies who visited a Zen master at a temple in 
Japan. The master received the professor in his private room, 
and as soon as he had seated himself, the professor began 
talking on and on about Zen philosophy. 

Feeling wonderfully inspired, the professor hardly noticed 
when the master poured tea into his cup. But when he suddenly
realized that the Zen master continued pouring even though the
cup had long since overflowed, he shouted, "Stop; stop; what
are you doing?"

The master looked up and said quietly, "Just as the cup cannot
hold anymore tea when it is already filled, how can I give you
anything when your mind is already filled?"

As the Zen master demonstrated, an open mind is a prerequisite 
to learning. In order to learn anything at all, we must first 
empty our minds of our cherished notions and assumptions. 

Paraphrased from: Chop Wood Carry Water, Rick Fields, with 
Peggy Taylor, Rex Weyler, and Rick Ingrasci.


=====LINK OF THE WEEK=====

This week's featured link is: The DoItNow! Foundation.

I just ran across this little jewel of a website yesterday
morning. It is packed to the gills with clearly written,
straightforward drug information. It offers articles, interviews,
games, a catalogue of very inexpensive pamphlets, and more. This
is one site that might not scare away your teenagers.

Visit the site at: 
http://www.doitnow.org

 
=====PURE BOLOGNA & HOGWASH=====

An alcoholic suffered a heart attack but managed to live through 
it. While recovering in the hospital, an over-zealous priest paid 
him a visit.

The priest carried on for over a half-hour about how thankful the man 
should be to have been spared, and how he should repent and change
his ways at once. Then he took the man's hand and said, "Tell me, 
my son, did all your sins flash before your eyes during the heart 
attack?" 

The man looked up and said, "Don't be ridiculous, Father, the attack 
only lasted about 6 hours."

Submitted by our old buddy, DJ.


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==========================

Alrighty, then...till next week, do us all a favor and keep 
it simple. 

Charles Roper, Editor 
Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips & Talks 

Alcohol & Drug Abuse - The Addiction & Recovery Information
& Resources Web site:
http://www.alcoholanddrugabuse.com