Tips for staying sober
Ecstasy is the most common name for MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), a powerful stimulant that is thought of quite differently from similarly-classed drugs such as “speed” or crystal meth or cocaine. You know it as the drug that makes the skin feel intense pleasure when touched, that heightens the senses and tingles the body. It’s been tremendously popular among teens and early 20-somethings for the last fifteen or twenty years. The drug has a high profile among pop stars, … [Read more...]
Moderation Management: a stripped-down AA? One of the reasons recovery from drinking throws such a fright into people is that when many people think of abstinence, they think of just that: giving up cold turkey. It’s not a fun hobby, that’s for sure. But there are other ways of doing things. Today we’ll discuss moderation management, a form of recovering from alcohol without going cold turkey. Moderation Management—with the details to follow--just the idea of drinking in moderation while … [Read more...]
Take Charge of Your Recovery There’s a paradox: recovery is insanely hard. When something is insanely hard, the tendency is to back off, slack off, maybe quit a little. But the paradox, of course, is that if you don’t work super hard at it, it will be impossible. It’s something that requires your full attention and full effort. I’ll tell you the difference between just thinking you’re going through recovery and really taking charge. Albuquerque: Feeble Attempts I did my heavy … [Read more...]
Can You Get Addicted to Marijuana? Hummm... in fact, it's a bit more complicated. I find this topic fascinating, and I’ve therefore done my homework on it. The question of becoming addicted to pot, grass, weed, chronic, wacky tobaccy, is quite interesting, perhaps a bit complicated. There’s the thorny distinction between dependence and true addiction (like to cocaine), and we’ll give it due consideration. But first, some of the key facts. The National Institute on Drug Abuse tells us … [Read more...]
They call it emotional sobriety. One of the keys to recovering is to gain some self-control. Obviously self-control is absolutely central to quitting a substance and to staying that way. But as you start to live sober, you’ll gain control over yourself in a much larger sense. You’ll control, not just the urge to drink, but many more emotional traits. There are some cause and effect qualities to this—the gains in self-control come from sobriety, and increased control and a better … [Read more...]
I’m Sam Lorden Bowles, a recovered alcoholic with nineteen years of sobriety. I wanted to start this blog to clearly relate a lot of relevant information on alcohol recovery and the sober life.
I want to give back, having established a stable, happy life. I run my own heating and cooling business and enjoy reading and running.
Sam Lorden Bowles