Letter to advice columnist: “The other day, as I drove off to work, my car made a horrible noise, and then the engine began to smoke. The car died about three miles from my house. I had forgotten my cell phone, so I walked home, which took me three hours. When I got home, I…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Though Charles Dickens wrote those words in the 19th century, they could have been written this week. 2020 has been a year for the record books. In many ways, these are the best of times; in others, they are the worst of times.…
“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” (The Godfather: Part II). It’s usually pretty easy to spot a friend. That is the person who loves you more because of your addiction, not despite your addiction. What’s not so easy to spot is an enemy. Let me help. An enemy is someone who . .…
Which of these is not correct? Babies have 100 more bones than adults. The Eiffel Tower can be 15 cm taller during the summer. 20% of Earth’s oxygen comes from the Amazon rainforest. In 2.3 billion years it will be too hot to live on Earth. It takes 8 minutes, 19 seconds for light to…
One of the great Archie Bunker quotes from All in the Family was, “We’re just sweeping dirty dishes under the rug.” Of course, the correct phrase would be to “sweep the dirt under the rug.” But we get the point. Archie spoke for every addict who wants to take the easiest route to recovery. We…
Ours is a society of lists. We make a list each day, of all the things we want to accomplish that day. And that’s a good thing. But then our lists can become our god. And that’s a bad thing. Jim Rohn said, “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” “The fruit…
Can a sex addict trust his feelings? Maybe not. Writer Mignon McLaughlin said, “Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have isn’t permanent.” Jeremiah 17:9 goes even further: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” And Solomon wrote, “Whoever trusts in his own mind is…
After tucking three-year-old Jimmy into bed, his parents heard sobbing coming from his bedroom. Rushing back in, they found their son crying hysterically. After they calmed him down a bit, Jimmy managed to tell them what had heppened. He said he had swallowed a penny and was afraid he would die. His parents were unable…
I love this line from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.” Every addict can relate. No one asks for sex addiction. Addicts were “drawn that way” through abuse, trauma, and isolation. So far today, I have heard men tell me of the following abuse: (a) physical abuse by a…
Byron Scott was one of the great shooters in the NBA, a three-time world champion and fourth pick in the NBA draft. Scott once led the Lakers in scoring on a team that included Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But it was a promise he made to his mother that haunted him throughout his career…