Such a fine line, sometimes, between abuse and dependence of a drug such as alcohol. We live in a drinking culture; alcohol is legal and easily acquired. In our culture, as children, we learn that alcohol always works. Our parents use it. The kid down the street does. Even the little old lady next door takes a nip or two. A rough day at the office--relax with a toddy. Bad exam in college--"Let's go get fucked up!"
A drink relaxes the body--eases tension. Social drinkers do this. Have "A" drink or maybe two.
With abuse, the drinker begins to teach himself to drink...over time a few more at each sitting. Tolerance of alcohol starts to build up. Tolerance alone does not warrent alcoholism--abusers certainly can build up a tolerance to booze over time. Sometimes abuse and dependence intertwine and it gets confusing--do I have a problem or not?
One of the biggest criteria to dependence, I believe, lies in loss of control. If I'm drinking for a longer period of time or my intention is to go out and have a couple and I end up drinking much more than intended, I have crossed over into loss of control. If I'm spending a great deal of time preoccupied with drinking and making plans around my activities so as to be around drinking, this is something to look at also.
If on medication for ailments such as diabetes or hypertension (high blood pressure), doctors are usually very clear about NOT drinking alcohol if one has these conditions. Any medication mixed with alcohol can have adverse to deadly affects.
I'm unsure of the origin and author of the following, but this has been an inspiration for me over the years.
1. You Will Receive A Body You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
2. You Will Learn Lessons You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school, you will have the opportunity to learn lessons - you may like the lesson or think them irrelevant and stupid.
3. There Are No Mistakes, Only Lessons There is a process of trial and error; experimentation. The 'failed' experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately 'works'.
4. A Lesson Is Repeated Until It Is Learned A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning Lessons Does Not End. There is no part of Life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
6. 'There' Is No Better Than 'here'. When your 'there' has become a 'here', you will simply obtain another 'there' that will again look better than 'here'.
7. Others Are Merely Mirrors Of You. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What You Make Of Your Life Is Up To You. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your Answers Lie Inside You. The answers to Life's questions lie inside you. All you need do is look, listen and trust.
What could I possibly add to the description of the Beatles that has not already been verbalized? They started the ball rolling for so many bands that I cannot imagine what the world's music scene would be like had they not bursted into stardom.
One of the best songs, sung by George Harrison from 1971 in the concert for Bangladesh.....
I'm an addictions counselor in the midwest, mostly working with DUI (Driving Under the Influence) offenders. In our area, the percentage of individuals charged with a DUI for a second time is 80%. That is high. The reasons can be debated, but obviously the behaviors are not changing. You keep doing the same thing, you're going to keep experiencing the same problems. Tonight, in group, I'll discuss different ways of thinking. Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy. Our thinking becomes distorted and then add alcohol and the distortion in thinking becomes that much worse.
Types of twisted thinking may include:
All-or-nothing thinking: Here's where your perfectionism rears it's ugly head. If it's not THIS way, then it HAS to be THAT way. "If she doesn't love me, she must hate me". "If I eat one bad thing on my diet, I just as well eat the whole cake--I've blown the whole thing." You can see how this makes life situations difficult to handle.
Labeling: This consists of a more extreme form of all-or-nothing thinking. Calling yourself names would be an example-"I'm an ass because I made a mistake". When someone does something that may rub you the wrong way, you may think, "What a jerk!"
Jumping to conclusions: The great fortune teller. Always has everything figured out before the end and boy oh boy is the conclusion more or less a negative one. "I just KNOW I'm going to flunk this test." These individuals are also experts at mind reading: You guest has just informed you that she's a tad cold. You assume this means she thinks you are a cheap person for keeping the thermostat lower.
There are several more examples of twisted thinking and we will approach all of them tonight in our group.
We will tie this into drinking and driving and how our thinking is distorted at that time.
The beautiful light displays that form in the northern hemisphere near the polar regions defy imagination. I've yet to see these phenomenons of the sky in person, but it is my plan.
Nature provides for us an array of glorious sights to behold; we just have to seek them out.
Peace for all on this Saturday. Check out more light shows:
Woman must not accept; she must challenge. She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression.
We hear more and more about Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder today, but what exactly is it?
It is defined as an anxiety disorder which can develop after an exposer to a terrifying ordeal. During this event, grave physical harm occured or was threatened. One has a valid belief they will die! Military combat, personal assaults such as rape or robbery, car or plane crashes, natural disasters such as Katrina or the San Francisco earthquake, or human-caused diasters like 911 fuel this ailment.
Someone suffering from PSTD may develop nightmares, sleep problems and/or feeling emotionally detached or numb.
I found a new website which chronicles a soldier from Iraq and his struggle with PSTD:FIGHT-PTSD.ORG Check it out.
Have you stopped to look at a storm? You have to pay attention if you are to catch the unique formations of lightening. It forces one to stay in the moment.
Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us to stay conscious:
"One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent....But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change."
This speech rings true for today's society also. Social change continues. Find what you want to change and become passionate. Locally, one can begin to help. Stay awake and act.
On life's journey Faith is nourishment, Virtuous deeds are a shelter, Wisdom is the light by day and Right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life nothing can destroy him; If he has conquered greed nothing can limit his freedom.
Discussions about the upcoming elections are being voiced everywhere. Issues are being debated; candidates scrutinized.
Now that Al Gore has entered the main spotlight again with his Nobel Peace Prize win, Drafting Al Gore shouts are ringing in the streets and across blogs nationwide. Head to the website and sign the petition. A man of integrity and character, Al Gore not only cares about the planet(which we cannot live without, by the way!), he seems sincere in his care of our country and the people who reside here.
Have you ever truly looked at the words to certain songs--the message?
Check out Lenny Kravitz:
Are You Gonna Go My Way
I was born long ago I am the chosen I'm the one I have come to save the day And I won't leave until I'm done So that's why you've got to try You've got to breathe and have some fun Though I'm not paid I play this game And I won't stop until I'm done
But what I really want to know is Are you gonna go my way? And I got to got to know
I don't know why we always cry This we must leave and get undone We must engage and rearrange And turn this planet back to one So tell me why we got to die And kill each other one by one We've got to hug and rub-a-dub We've got to dance and be in love
But what I really want to know is Are you gonna go my way? And I got to got to know
Are you gonna go my way? 'Cause baby I got to know Yeah
The songs created to rid the earth of war and the songs urging its occupants to replenish it are plenty.......who is listening?
"Free Hugs" signs went up this morning in Madison, Wisconsin at the Capital building downtown during the busy farmers' market.
The weather was a beautiful 70 degrees without a cloud in the sky.
My step-son Eddie and I spent about two hours walking the perimeter of the market while Firecrow played photographer.
Jump for more hugs:
When I first came across the You Tube video:
I cried at the beauty of the idea. Why not? Free hugs. What a great idea to boost everyone's seratonin level. Firecrow & I discussed organizing an outing and, like with many things, life takes over, responsibilities, etc.....
Then:
I needed to conduct an Experience project for college. I thought about the Free Hugs Campaign immediately. I had always wondered what would happen if we did this. This morning I found out.
We started receiving "customers" right away; our first was this older gay couple who were sitting by a light post resting when we pulled out our signs to begin. Their faces lit up and we got our first hugs. Eddie & I spent about five minutes talking to them; one of the gentleman has cuts and bruises on his face and explained to us how he had been beaten up the night before. He certainly had needed a hug and he thanked us for sharing ours with him.
As we continued on, we experienced an array of responses, ranging from smiles to laughter to amazement to razed eyebrows.
Interestingly enough, the three of us all had different perceptions of our adventure.
Eddie walked about twenty feet ahead of me and found the students, teenagers and college students, along with the elderly flocked to him the most.
My experience walking just a bit behind Eddie yielded 30, 40 and 50 somethings and people wanting me to hug their babies.
We both found that people seemed very fascinated with the project and wanted their picture taken with us.
Some people wanted group hugs:
Firecrow had a revealing take on the whole process as he played observer the entire time while snapping pics. He saw how many people, intrigued by what we were doing, hesitating....then asking for a hug, while others talked with their companions about us, each prompting the other to "just go ahead". He also witnessed people who were reluctant while we walked past, suddenly turn around and head towards us. One college student even came full charge across the Capital lawn just to "attack" Eddie. It was great to watch! There were only a couple incidents that you could catagorize as negative, if not, bizarre.
One man, around 60 years old, while openly wanting and receiving two hugs from me at separate times was pleasant, put up his arm when Eddie came near, not wanting to be touched, doing the same to Firecrow, although he did shake his hand.
One woman exclaimed that she gets "plenty of hugs and doesn't need any more" while another woman demanded to know what "organization" we were with before she would receive a hug. I asked, "What do you mean "organization"?" She demanded, "Why are you doing this?" I retorted, "Why not? She hugged me then.
Some people even asked us if it was a gimmick of some kind or wondering if the free hugs were really free.
All in all it was an awesome experience; my face hurts from smiling, Firecrow is taking a nap and Eddie thanked us for inviting him to come along......he wants to go back and do it again.
Its important to note that doing something like this does raise the other person's seratonin level in the brain, doing it does the same for you and people witnessing the act of kindness and a hug does the same also for someone even if they are mearly observing the act.
My dog is smarter than Bush; he at least knows when to come in out of the rain. The same tune over and over--"We are not leaving until victory"--there will never be victory. Ever. We lost a long time ago. Now, its just an excuse to sell more body bags for our troops and the citizens of Iraq. The Dems are selling out also. Where is the fight? Are we all THAT tired? I'm tired. Very tired. Maybe Bush is smarter than I give him credit for.
As a small child, I began being drawn to books. It wasn't something I thought about--why do I love books?--it was automatic. Knowledge, I wanted it. Fictional stories were facinating, yes, but it was the non-fiction....the how to, the research, the fact finding adventures that I enjoyed the most.
Art--Da Vinci, Monet and Van Gogh--Georgia O'Keefe, Jackson Pollack, and Picasso.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.
Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.
Oh, how I wish it were true. Media coverage of the illegal war, the need for AIDS drugs in Africa, the massacres in Darfur, the lying of our administration, the lack of motivation of our Congress to call this administration on the carpet, and the poverty level of millions in the United States.
But, instead, a Paris Hilton smoke screen. The media and the corporate assholes that own them, litter the news with Paris. These are terribly turbulent times. Think Progress
Whoever said money can't buy you happiness obviously has never been poor. It sure helps sometimes, but does not DEFINE me. Money can help in the short term, but if I'm not happy with who i am as a person, money will not fill that emptiness.
Looking for the golden ticket outside of myself is futile. Everything that I need, I already possess. I am a heart shaped diamond.
Isolation is the dark room where I develop all my negatives.
Isolation can be beautiful at first, but it stays dark......and creates more darkness.
Our connections to others keep us alive, focused, happy and sane.
The more we isolate, the more we drift apart.
When was the last time you said "Hello!" to your neighbor?
Thursday, May 31, 2007
I found an interesting story today about the need for renewable energy on Cleveland.com.
It talks about an architect who proposes rice farmers in China have differently constructed homes and businesses with rectangular slices of farmland topping these buildings.
Like a drop of water in a pond, the ripples cascade out, touching everything around it, so does the life of a fallen soldier. His death touches us all.
If you are unfamiliar with Memorial Day History, read and honor those who have lost their lives in battle.
Kittens are beautiful for helping me tap into the child inside. We all need to play. Being conscious does not just mean being aware of what is going on in the world around me; it also means tapping into something deeper. Making conscious contact with what's inside. Its a place where I am pure ME. My soul. (Plus it helps to have a kitty that likes Al Franken) :)
Nature is like that for me also. Its mysterious. Powerful. Beautiful. Peaceful. Energizing.
What gives you peace? Calms you? Helps you find a certain amount of serenity in your life? What is the name of that place? The place you go when things are grim; when life throws you a curve ball.
Tapping into that energy can be so important in our lives. It can be a life saver.
Michael Moore's new documentary, 'Sicko' , is receiving good reviews at the Cannes Film Festival.
His film will be opening in the United States in June and exposes our health care system flaws. I invite everyone to check it out when it arrives.
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Its a beautiful day here in northern Illinois, 81 degrees and mostly sunny. I'm about a quarter mile from the Rock River and I can hear the boats speeding back & forth as I sit here. The warm sun is kissing my arms as I type, so I think its time to head outside and read in the shade for a spell.
This is Buddy, my yellow Lab. He is a good boy. Devoted. Loving. He even smiles. There is also my kitty. Her name is Fast Kitty because, well........she's a fast kitty.
I wanted to post a pic of some of my pets because I had a good day. We had a staff meeting where I'm conducting my intership and although it seems a bit overwhelming, I'm excited. I'll be co-leading groups, helping with addiction classes and learning to do one on one counseling. It's going to be a busy summer.
Nutrition is such an important aspect of good health, but with all the fast food restaurants within a mile of each other, its difficult to believe that our culture perceives that.
Good foods cost good money; or so I thought. I accepted that in order to eat well.....buying fresh fruits & vegetables....etc...I needed to spend more money. There is a recent study on eating well on a fixed income. Healthy Eating Is Possible on a Tight Budget
Staying healthy does not mean having to go broke, Taking care of myself is the gift I give to myself.
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