My Marvelous Journey

Recovery from substance abuse is not just for the addict. It is an important part of maintaining your own sanity from the dysfunction of addiction. The addict can twist your reality and manipulate you into believing that what you thought was true was not. It is easy for a family member of an addict to get sucked up into the addict’s distorted thinking. You may not drink and you may not abuse drugs, but if you live with or have a close relationship with a substance abuser, y

With addiction comes disappointment. The promises broken far outweigh the promises kept. When you live with an addict or an alcoholic do not rely on them to keep their promises. For the addict will always disappoint you even if they sound sincere, the further they get into their addiction or alcoholism the less the promise means and the more disappointed you become. It is truly a viscious cycle. So how do you deal with the disappointment? How do you manage being disappoin

Would I have to tell my entire story The first Nar-Anon meeting I went to was scary. Not because of the people I might meet there. It was scary for me because this was the first time I would tell people about the addict in my life. It was scary because I would have to say the words out loud and face this truth. I remember trying to find a meeting to attend. I wanted to go somewhere far enough from my home so no one would recognize me. Luckily for me, there were dozens of

It's difficult to forgive an addict. How do you forgive someone who caused so much hurt and created insurmountable chaos in your life day after day? If your loved one is in recovery, it may be easier to forgive and move forward. If your loved one is still struggling with addiction, well, forgiveness becomes much more challenging. The notion that we can move on only if we forgive someone of their wrongdoings may work for some people. This does not hold true for everyone, c

What is it like to be the wife of an addict? To be the wife of an addict is not easy. And while there are some good days and some normal days, most days are filled with chaos and stress and anxiety. For this wife, living with an addict meant she had to put aside her own self-interests. The addict consumes all her energy and kills her spirit. If the wife allows him, he will take her soul. The addict knows how to manipulate her so that he can get what he wants which is his