I read of his experiences for the 33 years of living daily with his alcohol addiction and times of combining the alcohol with drugs.
I was astonished at how he was able to hold a professional IT position with major companies while living under or within the influence of alcohol and mood altering drugs. The highs and lows of his depression and self-esteem seem to push him further into the use of more or stronger drugs. He stresses the era of the baby boomers or the Woodstock generation as being a time of change when the stigma of using recreational drugs is more acceptable.
It is frightening to read of his daily actions of driving while high or stoned, being successful and working among corporate management, and then the nighttime excursions to score more drugs. He writes of the worry and impact his actions was having on his two children. As you read the book you can anticipate he will hit bottom, but at what cost? Sobriety came with a price and he was willing to make the exchange.
It was not an easy journey, but he is walking it with the help of AA and others who care. As you read the experiences of John W. After reading the book, I felt a different compassion for those who are fighting daily to stay sober! The Courage to Surrender by John W is an honest and compelling account of decades of alcoholism and drug addiction and the ultimate recovery and sobriety of the author. It is the wish of the author to remain anonymous in order to protect those closest to him, but it is also his wish that his story might be of help to others facing the same challenges.
I believe every word this author wrote; it is compelling, and sometimes difficult, to absorb. John W recounts his years of alcohol and drug addicti The Courage to Surrender by John W is an honest and compelling account of decades of alcoholism and drug addiction and the ultimate recovery and sobriety of the author.
John W recounts his years of alcohol and drug addiction with remarkable clarity, yet there are periods where he very plainly says, I don't remember much of this. It is clear that he is educated and intelligent. He is also a savvy technologist and managed to hide his addictions and hold down various positions throughout his career. One of the main points of the book is that he has low self-esteem which is fueled by his addictions, so he succumbs to his addictions, which further exacerbates his low self-esteem.
A vicious circle, and which the author clearly wants to stress. He says as much, that he wants to emphasize it because it is important that this type of behavior be recognized.
The author's story is poignant and heartbreaking but I had to remember that this book was not meant to be a novel, but a memoir, and the addictions and eventual recovery are the focal point. The author says he "is not a writer" but I thought his writing clear, and honest, and well-thought out. I thought his writing quiet brilliant at times in that he was able to clearly express his feelings, his failings, and his fears.
For people who are ready to confront their addictions and begin the road to sobriety, this is a must-read. The author wants to help people, and he says if he can help just one person become sober then it will have been worth it. It is clear, a lot of anguish and soul-searching went into the writing of this important memoir. And it will be worth it. We can start by making space for what's happening right now -- inside us and around us. This space is fertile -- the moment we open to it, we start to change, to learn, to grow.
Think of it as inhabiting truth moment by moment. Think of it as mindfulness. Think of it as heartfulness or even kindfulness. B Yeats from " The Second Coming". But for him, mindfulness is a gateway to more than personal health and well-being. You see, Yeats was wrong. The center can hold. We can make it hold because we define it through our attention, our awareness, our presence.
As others have mentioned, we have to differentiate between passivity and acceptance. Mindfulness and Psychotherapy About the Blog Archives. Go to mobile site. It's in all of us Do you think this is something that can be done on your own or do you need professional help to change Sobriety came with a price and he was willing to make the exchange. One of the most delightful demonstrations of surrender is a smile spontaneously dawning on someone's face.
We can choose to hear the falconer because she calls to us from inside ourselves -- through the truth of our own experience, through our own being. Of course, to hold the center is not easy. We must teach ourselves to listen. To the night sky.
We must attend to silence without and stillness within -- as Eckhart Tolle writes. We must be witnesses and participants in the wonder of our lives. We must welcome what is -- on the surface and deep inside. We often look outside for belonging and community. Yet the best connection to others grows through our own compassion, and that begins within. There is a beautiful irony here.
We embrace compassion first by acknowledging of our own judging. Once acknowledged, this judging may be surrendered -- willingly, with courage, with joy. A new sense of kinship arises with everyone and everything.
In this way, compassion unites us, leads us to love, and improves all dimensions of being. Jon Kabat-Zinn, speaking at this year's Wisdom 2. Something is not only emerging, it's in some sense exploding.
I think it's a manifestation of hunger, longing, starvation. I think we are actually as a species starving or thirsting for some kind of authentic experience that It's in all of us It's something that when it's cultivated inwardly and shared outwardly in community, we come into ourselves This is a global phenomenon that, if it's going to be truly healing and transformative, will require every single one of us to flower fully in this lifetime. When we accept what is, we accept ourselves.