Happily Ever Hobbies

Have y'all read this book? My husband and I just started reading it in our own little book club and first off let me just say this guy likes to say the F word....a lot. It's fairly comical, down to earth, a little cheesy, but totally relatable. Keeping it real for sure. He talks about what we have vs. what we don't have, and focusing on the lack there of, actually makes us less productive and less positive vs. looking at what we do have. When we figure out what we actually need to be giving a "F" about, figuring out our priorities then all the other stuff doesn't really need to matter. We live in such a society where enough is never enough. We need more more and more. And us as alcoholics, really feel that way. Possibly more so than "normal" people. We also care so much about…

Ahh, self care. In our program we are told we can't be selfish, that we have to be doing for other people all the time and always saying yes. But I always say, what good are we to others if we aren't taking care of ourselves? (However that looks like) For me, I've tried taking care of my self in a number of ways over the years since getting sober (because let's face it I had no idea what that meant while drinking), but it turns out I didn't really know what it meant after becoming a mom either (especially not being able to drive - you'd be surprised how much freedom and self care just driving can give you). Of course after having kids (3 back to back to back) it was all about them and taking care of them. But when I get extra snappy ("spicy" my husband…

When was the last time that you actually stopped the smell the roses? (Flowers) Watched the birds, rabbits and squirrels? When do we take the time to do this? I remember a lot of people talking about after they got sober that they could actually stop and smell the roses again.. they were noticing things and not taking things for granted and allowing their perspective to look at things so magically.. even the simplest, smallest little things. So why then does that change over time? The world gets to us and we forget... The world is in a hurry and so we are supposed to be too. Maybe the world tells us that we're not supposed to be grateful. We're not supposed to notice things. Maybe that we're not even supposed to be happy, free and joyful? But I'm here to tell the world differently. Just for today I will…

From early on when I got sober, I decided that I wanted to be as real as possible. I remember before I got sober I wanted to change myself so that I could fit in because that's how I thought I would be loved and how I could belong. So I would change everything. I would change the way I looked, the way I acted, the way I talked, the things I would say, the accent I would use.. just so you would like me. Or so I thought. But that's not keeping it real because that's not who I am. And of course as we grow up we have to figure out who we are because we don't exactly know in our early days, our early years. So now since being sober for almost 12 years I maybe have almost figured it out.. But I am okay with being…