Gratitude Friday 9 13 2024 Septem

I love September almost as much as October, my hands down favorite month of the year, even as detest anything pumpkin spiced. September is when the hint of fall is in the air. Migration is taking hold in the skies above us and the light is changing. The origin of the word September is Septem, is from Latin, or seven as it was originally the seventh month of the year before Numa Pompilius added January and February to synchronize with the lunar calendar. Prior to that, there were weeks of unsigned time at the end of the calendar. Things were more than a bit confusing. It is also recovery month. Some Recovery quotes for this week of gratitude:

“The Phoenix does not mourn what lies in its ashes; the serpent does not mourn its old skin.” - Arthur Frank

“I’ve been sober for 18 years now. It wasn’t like you flick a switch, and you’re sober. It takes a while. You have to learn how to do everything all over again. There is life after addiction, and it’s really good. If I had known, I’d have

stopped earlier.” – Joe Walsh

“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe”

“God can free a thousand slaves, but he could have freed more if only they knew they were slaves.” ― Shannon L. Alder

 “I went to hell and back, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Then I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in, happy about life and comfortable in my skin.” – Drew Barrymore

“To this day, a central argument of the alcohol industry is that the most significant harms of alcohol are confined to a minority of excessive drinkers. This is specious—superficially correct, perhaps intuitively appealing to those with a personal experience of addiction, but in fact deeply wrong. Alcohol problems exist on a continuum, and numerous studies have found that most of the harmful effects of alcohol can be seen not among the most severe cases but in the much larger population of drinkers at the middle of the consumption bell curve—a group defined as “hazardous” or “at-risk” drinkers. People don’t need to be stereotypical alcoholics to drive drunk, get into fights, commit domestic violence, or develop alcohol-related diseases. Hazardous drinkers have fewer of these problems at an individual level, but they make up so much more of the population that they account for the most problems overall.” ― Carl Erik Fisher, The Urge: Our History of Addiction

“I have been deeply involved with the problems of alcoholism - my own and others - for more than 30 years. If at times I sound like an angry and frustrated man, it is because I am. I see this great abundant land of ours with resources beyond compare. I see the wonderful achievements of our science and technology; the miracles of modern medicine; the explosive growth of knowledge in numberless areas; the marvelous exploits of American industry and our space programs. But I am sick to my soul by our response to alcoholism.” Senator Harold Hughes testimony in the 1979 US Senate Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Subcommittee

“But what really matters is what's under the hood, and without continued attention to routine maintenance and repairs, it isn't long before the same old engine spoils the new ride.” ― William Cope Moyers, Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption

“One of the cruelest judgments sustained against me is that I have spoken out as a recovered alcoholic to stimulate my acting career.” - Mercedes McCambridge

“I understood, through rehab, things about creating characters. I understood that creating whole people means knowing where we come from, how we can make a mistake and how we overcome things to make ourselves stronger.” – Samuel L. Jackson

“The goal is not to reach some ultimate state of being, but rather to live within and finding meaning and contribution to others within this evolutionary process.  We don’t go through this process to live fully in its final stages; the meaning is instead found within each step in the process.” – William White

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling

"In the end, I learned that recovery is an intimately personal journey that isn't always measured simply by abstinence or even sobriety. For me, the experience crystallized the reality that there are many pathways, not just one way, to get well, and I hope others will see themselves in the story and feel empowered. Embracing the truth that we're people whose lives are always in process is hard, but it's a way to a new kind of freedom." - William Cope Moyers - Broken Open: What Painkillers Taught Me about Life and Recovery

“My recovery from drug addiction is the single greatest accomplishment of my life… but it takes work — hard, painful work — but the help is there, in every town and career, drug/drink freed members of society, from every single walk and talk of life to help and guide.” – Jamie Lee Curtis

“I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.” – Robert Downey Jr.

Happy September, Happy Recovery month. I am grateful to celebrate both. What are you grateful for today?