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A ripple effect of being married to an alcoholic enjoying sobriety
I can see in retrospect, and with so much more knowledge about Mazz in particular and alcoholism in general, that I was making my own sets of excuses. I was desperate not to believe what this person was saying about Mazz. In re-reading these exchanges, which I haven't looked at it in nearly 10 years, my stomach is tight, my anxiety is ratcheting up and I am immediately back in the swirl of knowing something is desperately wrong but not being able to articulate it. I don't know this because I haven't spent enough time with spouses of addicts or those in recovery to prove this theory out, but I…
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Disrupting the money conversation
Pre-2017, we didn't have money conversations. We had money arguments. From his side, I was nagging, questioning, accusing; from mine, he was obfuscating, lying, paying no attention. We never, and I do mean never, had a "good" conversation around money.
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How do you get from here to there?
But I had a lightening bolt moment yesterday on my walk. I realized, or it hit me on the head walking past the soybeans on my left and the field filled with big puddles of water on my right, that I want to actually be a "personal systems disrupter." I want to inspire and motivate people to disrupt their personal systems to find what's beyond their current reality.
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Mirroring our reality
We didn't just talk about addiction, of course, because these men, and the other woman and I are more than the product of this disease, which steals from every person with whom it comes in contact. But it was so easy to ask questions, to recall a similar experience, to look at this couple, who in many ways are a mirror of us, and see where we had been, where we are and what damage still lingers. Because believe me, no matter how much better it is, no matter how fabulous it is, in fact, there is lingering damage. Scars heal over time, stop being red and raw, but never…
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Daily Dose of Dr Marry & DD week 3 recap
Thanks for joining us on this journey--remember to share these with anyone you think might find value. We believe they aren't just useful to addicts and spouses/partners of addicts, but to people going through life. We all have to live with vulnerability, manage complex emotions, reflect on our own role and take responsibility for it and everything else.
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Daily Dose of Dr Marry and DD week 2 recap
Welcome to week 2 of Daily Dose of Dr Marry and DD. If you're struggling with addiction or are partnered to an addict, you'll find useful nuggets in one or many of this week's episodes. If you're just a "run of the mill" person with no addiction in your life, first, count your lucky stars, and second, you'll find ideas to consider in your own life as well.
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Daily Dose of Dr Marry and DD week 1 recap
So every weekday morning at 8:30am, Dr Marry and I will go live with a "Daily Dose of Dr Marry and DD" on my public Facebook page for no more than 15 minutes all around one focused idea. They are a quick, mindful way to start your day with tips, ways to reframe your thinking or an important idea to consider.
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Keep your keys close
But in the midst of all of those "problems" or "failures" is a simple story about Dr Marry and his keys. A story he told me sometime in early May that has stuck with me, like so much of what he has casually said in these three+ years since he got sober.
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Looks can be deceiving
But I was determined not to throw them out only to go and purchase two more chairs. And, truthfully, I really didn't care all that much. Like most of us, we don't use our living room all that often, so it was kind of an out of sight, out of mind thing. Also, I'm so not a "matching living room furniture set" kind of person.
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Committed to it all
So today I sit in my sunroom, overlooking the yard where we happily celebrated making this commitment to each other 12 years ago, and think, as I often have done in these past three years, what if I hadn't held on?
