Larry Winter

Recovery is full of instructions for our lives. I have days when it is easy to incorporate the 12 steps into my life. There are other days when self-doubt and not being worthy incapacitate my being. When this occurs I become afraid I may be heading toward a deep depression. I am learning on a […]

Friday I wrote about having feelings of self-doubt, uncertainty about my talents and abilities, and a sense of unworthiness that is not congruent with what others think about me. These beliefs are hazardous to my health. But what if I find myself in a situation where people around me fail to incorporate me into their

“Any day now people are going to realize I am not a good writer.” Thoughts of being a fraud or not worthy of success often occur in my mind. The problem is the anxiety, insecurity, and dread these beliefs cause me. This thinking can cause real damage: anxiety, an inability to enjoy success, and I

Last week I met with my psychiatrist to discuss my progress. I keep a journal each day to document my mood on a scale of 1(low) to 10 (high). I began doing this several years ago to recall my progress between appointments with my psychiatrist. Earlier this year my mood was between 4 to 6

The sweetness of our life partnered with Recovery looks like Recovery’s nature toward others. Recovery is confidently humble. Recovery knows who it is, yet Recovery does not make it difficult or restrictive for us to form a friendship with its healing power and strength. Recovery does not exclude anyone such as the homeless, a veteran,

Your emotions can affect how you think about events and problems. Knowing the ‘facts’ of a situation can decrease the likelihood of lashing out toward others or overreacting. Why is this important?      Examining your thoughts and checking the facts can help manage your emotions and your response to people. How do you check the facts?

“True Spirit”, out on Netflix now, tells the fascinating true story of Jessica Watson, an Australian sailor who circumnavigated the globe in 210 days back in 2009 – What makes this impressive is she was only 16 years old. Jessica wrote a book about her achievement which was used as the script to tell us what

In Recovery, there are periods of building our knowledge and skills and periods of producing new habits. There are periods of great joy and others of great sorrow. Recovery we know that you are reliable in every period of our lives. When we continue in the way of Recovery, we will not always feel comfortable

Recovery you give presents that others cannot even begin to imagine giving. We do not earn presents based on our achievements. Recovery, yours is not a rewards-based training program. You offer freely to all of us the same amount – which is a rich bounty. Your peace, which is beyond our comprehension, is a present

Emotional regulation allows us to give our emotions a name. When we name our emotions we tame and claim them. Naming our emotions leads to a reduction in the intensity of that emotion. There are four functions of emotions: 1. To motivate us. 2. To communicate with others. 3. To communicate with ourselves. 4. To