He was leaning over the outdoor banister on the third floor of the condo complex where I live a nicotine-free existence. On occasion, I pass by a smoker’s obnoxious toxins, permeating the air. Each encounter with a smoker brings to mind, albeit momentarily, my unmitigated joy of being an ex-smoker.I don’t want to be... Read more
Years ago I was disinclined to deal with difficulty directly. I’m also not the world’s best at standing up for myself; streaks of anxiety shoot through my very human frame on occasion.I experience fears of various potency: a momentary reactive fear, an instantaneous adrenaline-in-the-throat feeling when another driver swerves in... Read more
Acknowledge. Accept. Prioritize. These are tenets of Save Our Selves, also
known as Secular Organizations for Sobriety, a self-empowerment addiction
recovery group founded over 23 years ago. When I arrested my addiction to alcohol in 1978 and founded SOS in 1985, I
had successfully applied these tenets both... Read more
Some folks smoke in secret. They may “succeed” in life, they may not. They may be brilliant young students, wives,
husbands, major film stars, retail sales clerks, clerics. Secret smokers may fool some of their peers,
their families.
Others smoke openly, defiantly. Courteous nicotine addicts may take great
care to... Read more