“Although my anger did not disappear immediately, for the first time I had a sense that all the pain in my life was in some way the result of my … Continue reading “Anger”
“I needed to stop spending so much time in the low-self-esteem room!” —To the Newcomer. There are so many problems we face when we get sober. We’re dealing with the … Continue reading “Putting Our Sobriety First”
“I needed to stop spending so much time in the low-self-esteem room!” —Heard in CMA. I’d been sober for several years, going to meetings and doing my Steps, but I … Continue reading “Building Self-Esteem”
“When I look back on the journey this far, I honestly can’t explain what happened. Something out there had my back—call it a power greater than myself, call it whatever … Continue reading “Recovery’s Rearview Mirror”
“The longer we stick around, the less we know.” —Heard in the rooms. Addiction is a deep groove. It’s tough to break patterns when we’ve spent years doing the same … Continue reading “A New Experience”
“Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings” –Step 7 Many of us use Step 7 to beat ourselves up. When we fall back into familiar patterns of behavior, we say … Continue reading “We’re Only Human”
“My trust in people and, more importantly, in myself has been restored over time.” —Sponsorship, More than Just Friendship – Voices of the Fellowship: Our Recovery Trust was a foreign … Continue reading “Building Trust”
“Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.” —Step Seven of the Twelve Steps For many of us, using crystal meth was the ultimate form of entitlement. We demanded to feel … Continue reading “Letting Go of Entitlement”
“Be still and know that I am God.” —Heard in the rooms. When I first arrived in CMA, I didn’t see myself reflected back at me. As a black trans … Continue reading “A Brand-New Me”
“In CMA, we may be the last house on the block, but the light is always on, and the door is always open.” —Heard in the rooms. We crawled into … Continue reading “Welcome Home”
“Crystal Meth is not the problem, I’m the problem!” —Heard in meetings. We all know crystal meth is a powerful drug—when we met Tina, a lot of us were hooked … Continue reading “What Is the Problem?”
“Wear your recovery like a loose garment.” —Heard in the rooms I missed my meeting today—there goes my 90 in 90! I’m only on Step 2! I forgot to send … Continue reading “Nice Caftan!”
“Jealousy is the reflection of my own dissatisfaction” -Heard in the rooms. When we are jealous of others in the rooms of CMA, we risk turning recovery into a competition. … Continue reading “Jealousy and Envy”
“You spot it, you got it.” — Heard in the rooms One of the challenges in early recovery is dealing with difficult people. Some addicts are annoying or loud, or … Continue reading “Tormentor / Teacher”
“Don’t pick up no matter what.” -Twelve Step wisdom. This suggestion bothered some of us at first. After all, “just say no to drugs” didn’t work all that well. But … Continue reading ““No matter what.””
“We become an unconditional friend to ourselves. We get a simple and direct relationship with the way we are.” -What About Meditation? (CMA Pamphlet) In the rooms of CMA we … Continue reading “Unconditional Friend”
“In all things, I need to remember to be gentle on myself but hard on my disease.” -CMA Member. Striving to maintain our sobriety can sometimes feel like a fight … Continue reading “Being Gentle on Ourselves”
We try to live in the moment. Yesterday’s problems are yesterday’s affairs, and tomorrow’s surprises can wait until tomorrow. -Sober Toolkit. It is OK to begin your recovery from crystal … Continue reading “Beginning Right Where You Are”