Bryan Hullihen Talks About Extremes

-

Recently I (Bryan Hullihen) was working with an alcoholic in early recovery regarding the concept of clearing up the wreckage of his past when I noticed a pattern that I've seen over the years begin to emerge. This particular person began to ask my opinion on several instances that, in my opinion, required no amends at all. Details are not important here and if you are in early recovery asking your support group about the validity to your amends is strongly encouraged. What is important is the nature of extremes when dealing with alcoholism or drug addiction. For example, I remember a time when I was told by my mentor that alcoholism is a disease centered in selfishness and self-centeredness. In all of my perplexity I thought, "If I'm to give away all my belongings to become and ascetic while living a life of abnegation I'll never stay sober!" My mentor smiled and looked at me and said, "Bryan Hullihen, that is spoken like a true alcoholic and that statement is a prime example of how you are working with a broken instrument." He meant my brain. You see, alcoholics have a tendency to take everything to extremes and if we are not careful even the best of things can become a hindrance to recovery. Understanding that we are dealing with a disease of the mind is a great start, however, simply gaining this understanding does little to assuage the effect this disorder has on our thinking. Having a good support group that fosters open and safe communication goes a long way in paving the way through early recovery. Thank you for your support and I look forward to your comments. My name is Bryan Hullihen and if you are looking for support through early recovery you can reach me through my personal site at www.BryanHullihen.wordpress.com.

Sincerely,

Bryan Hullihen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bryan Hullihen talks about early recovery and his early days following prison

-
My name is Bryan Hullihen and I am an alcoholic. I have suffered many consequences as a result of my drinking and getting sent to prison was just one of many consequences. During my time in prison I stayed busy and worked a program of action relative to my alcoholism, however, I knew that life in prison was the minor leagues. By the time I walked out of that place I had over six years of sobriety but when I was given my freedom I felt like a newcomer. I had experienced the psychic change necessary to live a life of sober independence and help others do the same but restarting my life and having my freedom restored presented me with some challenges that I hadn't had in over half a decade. Seeing women all over the place was just one of many distractions that I knew could have me placing my recovery in the passenger seat very quickly. There was also the distractions of all the shiny things and an innate desire to keep up with the Jones's. After several years of not having many s...
Read more

Bryan Hullihen and The path to success

-
As many of you know, my name is Bryan Hullihen and I have been in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction for many years now. Remembering the things that got me to where I am in my success is one of the things that keeps me grounded but it is also the thing that allows me to have future success. The path to the life I always wanted is through recovery. It is a funny thing how often we find that we have arrived at our destination in life through some other means than we had initially anticipated. Recovery has been like that for me. It seems counter intuitive to think that if we want financial freedom we need to be attending to our recovery instead of our careers but that has been my story and so many others. When I was younger I would go headlong into some business venture or career path thinking that all I needed to feel better was to find success the way I defined it at the time; money, cars, Realestate, etc. I truly believed this to my core and so I lived my life as if that were...
Read more

Bryan Hullihen and the Mental Shift

-
Being in early recovery from alcoholism and/or drug addiction is both an exciting and precarious time. I, Bryan Hullihen , know this from personal experience having been in early recovery more times than I'd care to admit. In active addiction we push all our loved ones away, most of us end up broke, and we find ourselves all alone or around other people who definitely don't have our best interest in mind. Then we come to find a path of recovery from this seemingly hopeless state and begin to feel amazing as our friends and loved ones return, we find a little money in our pockets, we surround ourselves with people who truly care, and we are no longer plagued by an assiduous yearning to get loaded. Too many people get to this place in early recovery and mistakenly assume they "got it" which invariably triggers a mental shift. Prior to this "shift" these folks, myself included, had recovery as the number one priority. Our desire and focus were where they need...
Read more