Recovery Enthusiast/ Recovery for Women

  The average person avoids challenges like she’s avoiding the plague. Struggling isn’t enjoyable, so it’s natural to avoid it as much as possible. There’s an issue with this strategy: There’s a lot to be gained from struggling .   There are many aspects to humans that are anti-fragile, meaning that stress makes them stronger.   For example:   ●       Exercise is a stressor that delivers positive benefits. ●       Being hot or cold, within reason, is good for your health. ●       Fasting is beneficial. Struggling is similar in that it makes you better than you were before the struggle.   Have you ever noticed that?   You learn a lot about yourself when you struggle . You don’t learn a lot about yourself while you’re watching a movie for the fifth time from your couch. When life is easy, you have a natural tendency to coast. Any struggle is a test of your w...

Not a morning person? Would you like to get up earlier and feel more productive? Would you like to feel more in control of your day? Developing a morning routine that will boost your productivity can help you stay on top of your commitments for the day. I was never a morning person. For years I worked the second shift and my kids were grown and out of the house so I did have a need or the ambition to get up early let alone be productive in the morning. Then I switched to the first shift so I could go to school at night. So I not only needed to wake up earlier I needed to get a lot of stuff done in a day and had to plan my day wisely. So I started slowly and got into a routine. Then I decided to develop my own online course online.  Not to mention the time with family and self-care, both of which I feel are so important. Over time I became very good at time management and making good use of my time. I now wake up at 4 AM (I know, right?!) so I can fit in my meditation time and work...

  In talking about self-esteem, one of the components is competency. Competence is defined as having the ability to navigate life's challenges, to think, understand, learn, and make decisions. I think we get stuck because we feel incapable of doing things or incapable of asking for help. Maybe there was a time when we had people doing things for us, and although they were doing it out of love, they were not helping us build capabilities for ourselves. As a counselor, in the field of addiction, over the years, I have found one of the best things I can do for my clients is to have them do things for themselves, whether that be calling their doctors to make appointments or setting up a new provider. Having them set up and follow through on interviews with job placements, having them call their POs to check-in, let them know where they are, etc. Sometimes we feel that we are incapable of doing tasks, and when we ask for help, we get upset when people won't do it for us. I remember ...

  Self-esteem is essentially the quality of being pleased with yourself. The opposite of having high self-esteem is loathing yourself, which is obviously a challenging way to live. Learning how to be happy with yourself can benefit you in every other aspect of your life. You’ll be a lot happier in general, too.   Learn to love yourself and raise your self-esteem with these tips:  1. Volunteer . Demonstrate to yourself that you’re a good person by giving some of your spare time to a worthy cause. You’ll feel better about yourself than if you’d spent the same time watching a TV series marathon instead.  2. Do something each day that you’re good at . We feel competent and confident while doing something that we know we’re good at. Make a list of the things you know in your heart that you do well. Do at least one of them each day and notice how you feel.  3. Remind yourself of your successes daily . Spend a few minutes each day reviewing your successes. Include rece...