--RECOVERING--

Re: The recovering addict and the loved one of the addict...
I thought more about this and thought I would explain why I believe there are no lines. Just treat others as you would like to be treated is a good rule though.I think the addict does have something to offer to the loved ones of addicts we ( the addicts ) help the loved ones better understand what their loved one is feeling and has gone through.And the loved ones can help the addicts too by telling their story of what they have went through or asking questions about the user in their lives it reopens the eyes to what we used to be and how we have hurt our own loved ones. I think we are therapeutic to each other and go hand and hand in our recovery.

~sickidsgurl

Well, hopefully the board is more then the mere writing out our rambling thoughts here. It's real people listening and caring. And as far as just getting thoughts down on paper, maybe for some that is why their here. For me it's reaching into myself and being vulnerable and sharing my insecurities and life and trusting others with the information. Hopefully this site will be helpful to you to.<<>

~TerryCa

~http://www.kci.org/meth_info/msg_board_posts/2007/033007/Help_each_other.htm

--D.E.V.I.L.s...D.R.U.G.s...D.O.C.T.O.R.s...--

Before I ever faced the true nature of my addiction, I was busy trying to take care of my addict (now ex-husband). It used to drive me nuts that no matter what I did, no matter how much love I showed him in every way possible that I could think of, that he could NOT see the pain/suffering he was causing.

I did not understand why love alone wasn't enough to 'cure' him.It wasn't until I was taken to rehab myself that I learned of the disease concept of addiction. Yes, I know, there are those who will argue it is not a disease, but I firmly believe it is. The disease concept makes it much easier for me to understand why I did what I did, in spite of everyone's best efforts, and also my ex, and my oldest daughter, who is still using to this day.

It has also helped me to detach with love from the addict.

Cancer is a disease. No matter how much we love someone, we cannot 'cure' them or put their cancer into remission....

It is the same for addiction. That isn't to say that love and support can't help someone who is in recovery.My oldest stopped by yesterday with the grandchildren. It's sad because I look at her now, and the daughter I used to know isn't there, at least not visibly.

I know that daughter is there deep inside somewhere, but for now, the disease has taken over her. I have no more control over her disease than I do the war in Iraq.I had to let go and let God when it came to my oldest daughter and my ex. I know, for me, I had to reach a bottom where I was finally able to reach out and ask something greater than me to release me from my hell and help me start my life over.

The addicts in my life deserve the same opportunity in their lives to either eventually embrace recovery, or live their addictions till they die.

For those of you who are asking at this moment, why can't love be enough? It's simple. You are no longer dealing with just a human being, you are dealing with a disease that has completely taken over his/her soul. Although I can be sarcastic and skeptical at times, I still believe in the inherent goodness of mankind, and I have yet, over the past 20 years, to meet a recovering addict/alcoholic who wasn't a kind, caring, loving soul.

I continue to keep everyone in my prayers, my own family, the still-suffering addict, and all of you out there whose lives have been forever changed because of the addict/s in your lives.
~
~Tenderhearts

Yes,Of Course there is hope. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of meth addicts recover everyday. This forum has plenty.

~Sfj

Re: Why love isn't enough
Where there is breath, there is always hope.You may not be able to live with the person in the process- but there is always hope.No love is not enough but it sure can get lucky sometimes and be a push in the right direction or a hand to help up.There is always hope as long as there is breath..

~imlostinky

~~WE NEED HOME~~

~

~

~~AND ONLY HOME CAN DO US THE BEST~~

~

~

~~PLEASE HELP THE ADDICT~~

~

~~WHO NEVER TAKE THE DRUGS FOR THE ENJOYMENT of HIMSELF~~

~

~

~~PLEASE....~~

~

~

~http://www.kci.org/meth_info/msg_board_posts/2006/053006/Why%20love%20is%20not%20enough.htm

~

~http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B0013HBA1M/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt/105-5505254-5474820?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

--THINKING HEART--

The wording of Genesis 6:5 makes it sounds of as if the human heart is capable of thinking, or at least of having some sort of emotional capacity:

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of THE THOUGHTS OF HIS HEART was only evil continually.” Critics deem this expression to be unscientific, since the heart is viewed as a purely mechanical pump. However, the science journal Discover, in a review of the book A Man after His Own Heart by Charles Siebert, reported that Siebert’s book recognized “that the heart is no mere pump, as some physicians still insist, but a sophisticated participant in the regulation of emotion. The heart has a mind of its own:

It secretes its own brain-like hormones and actively partakes in a dialogue among the internal organs―a dialogue on which cardiac researchers are only beginning to eavesdrop. The heart likewise undergoes all manner of organic change inflicted on it by the tempestuous brain and its neurochemicals. As one doctor explains, people do suffer heartbreak, literally” (Burdick 2004: 72).
~
The journal used the real-life example of William Schroeder, who was the second (as well as the longest-surviving) recipient of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart. As a purely mechanical pump of his blood, the device kept Schroeder alive for an unprecedented 620 days. However, as Discover reported,

“The patient’s mental state was another matter. Schroeder was weepy and deeply despondent. (Barney Clark, the first Jarvik-7 recipient, expressed a wish to die or be killed.) The blood still circulated, but something vital―some emotionally charged communication between heart and mind―had been lost….

Affirming all [alleged] myths, the hear truly is a seat of human emotion. The Jarvik-7, in contrast, was deaf to the song of human experience; built to invigorate its patient, it instead alienated him, supplying Schroeder with everything but the will to live. He had the look, Siebert writes, ‘of a man who has lost his heart’” (Burdick 2004: 72).

It is discoveries like these that should caution us not to be too quick in judging the Book of Genesis as scientifically unsound

~
~http://www.rae.org/heart.html

--WHY COMPETE?--

1. Push Your Limits
Competing removes you from the comfort zone you build up in your local club. Even if you never compete at a higher level, competing forces your speaking into a new perspective. In a contest, you’re not just going to receive a (probably very friendly) public evaluation, you’re going to be graded on the quality of your speaking and of your speech. Knowing that can help you overcome the complacency we all can feel when we’re preparing “just another manual speech.”

2. Feel the Support
Competing is an excellent way to discover how supportive your fellow Toastmasters can be. When I won the Founder’s District International Speech Contest earlier this year, several of my fellow competitors immediately offered their assistance and support in preparing me for the next level. That spirit of support is visible throughout Toastmasters. By participating in contests, you open yourself up to praise, constructive feedback, and encouragement that go a long way toward making your next speech better and better.

3. Increase Your Confidence
2001 World Champion of Public Speaking Darren LaCroix lists the three most important things for becoming a better speaker: “stage time, stage time, stage time.” Any time you speak, you develop more confidence in your abilities. If you’re serious about improving as a speaker, the message behind “stage time, stage time, stage time” is that you should take advantage of every opportunity to practice your skills. Competing—even if you don’t expect to win—gives you another chance to get that practice.

Participating in Toastmasters contests is a great way to grow. As you push yourself to improve, the confidence and support you feel can only make you better, as a speaker and as a person. So, the next time your club announces a contest, overcome your doubts and join in!
~
~http://www.foundersdistrict.org/founder/Dec_2005/Why_Compete.htm

--LOSS FRIEND...--

Do you ever wonder how people will remember you after you’ve gone? Most of us do at one time or another.

~
I want to tell you about a young person, about whom I know virtually nothing. I never met her, and I can’t even remember her name. But of the tragedy of her passion, and of the love in which she is held by those who cherish her memory, I know a great deal.For you see, every day on my way to work, I drive past one of those roadside shrines. You know the sort of thing.. a few bunches of flowers at the side of the road, at the site of a traffic accident of some sort. Usually, the flowers die away and all that is left is a collection of cellophane wrappers containing their sad assortment of dried stalk, which the council quietly clear away after a few weeks.

~
But this one is different. For well over a year, the flowers have been replenished regularly. And it isn’t just flowers. There are cards, candles, hand-written notices. Rarely a day passes without there being some new addition and when it was her birthday recently, there as a large and beautifully crafted banner to proclaim the love and to remind the world of this very special person.

~
Now, you may well wonder whether perhaps her friends and family should perhaps have come to terms with their grief; whether the rawness of a young life lost might by now have turned into a treasured memory kept alive in other ways. You might even wonder whether it is healthy to maintain the memory of this much loved person in this way for such a long time. You may well be right and I wouldn’t argue; that is for the psychologists to say.

~
But that’s not the point. This young life clearly inspired friendship and love of the highest order. There is in this continuing act of remembrance the same determined loyalty as of a dog that will not be budged from her master’s grave; and unwavering insistence that the memory will never, never be extinguished. What friends to have! How wonderful to be remembered in this way!

~
And then I realised that it is by being a special friend that we gather friends around us; by giving more than we receive, by listening and by sharing and by giving of ourselves that we form a circle of friends around us.So it was not mere sentimentality that produced this outpouring, but the recognition that a special person, a shining example, has been snuffed out.May I be remembered above all as a friend to others...

~
~http://www.oxford.anglican.org/thedoor/competitions/thought_competition_2.html