Good morning! My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  Thinking and being inside my head used to be a big problem for me especially when I was drinking and using.  I still sometimes catch myself getting inside my head, but quickly get out, before I get carried away creating problems that aren't really there.  I used to lie in bed or on the bathroom floor, just thinking.  Crying out to God to make the pain stop.  Make me stop drinking.  I would think myself crazy...or crazier.  It was insane. Just thinking back makes me sick.  I hate it.  I was sooooo miserable, so unhappy.  I don't ever want to go back there.  Thinking too much and worrying are a dangerous combination. They don't get you anywhere. "Worrying is a total waste of time.  It doesn't change anything.  All it does is steal your joy and keep you very busy doing nothing." -unknown.  Worrying won't stuff the bad stuff from happening, it just stops you from enjoying the good.  So sometimes I need to take a deep a breath, slow down and smile and everything will be ok.  That's all I have for today!  Have a great one! PS. I have books and bookmarks for sale in the store on my site here.  You should check it out.  :)

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  I don't try to be better than anyone other than the person I was yesterday.  I'm not perfect and I won't ever be.  I am only me, and I am working on me.  Bettering me.  One day at a time.  That's all I can do.  Positive thoughts equals positive actions.  Before when I was drinking and using, everything was negative, I was negative. So with that came my negative thoughts, and negtive decisions with in turn resulted in negative actions and negative consequences.  So today, I have turned this around to be positve and with that comes all the others...positive thoughts and positives decisions which then results in positive actions.  It doesn't have consequenses like the previous.  My life is totally different today.  Today I am a happy woman.  I feel so blessed.  I pray to God every day and thank Him for all He has done for me and for His forgiveness.  Thank you God!  That's all I have for today!  Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful recovering alcoholic/addict.  I have overcome a lot of things I thought I couldn't do.  I didn't think I could ever get sober, none the less stay sober, or want to stay sober.  I started working out every day and have been for almost 2 months now.  I didn't think, I could do that.  But if you really put your mind to something, you can do it.  That happens with good things and bad things.  People get strength from good situations and bad ones.  Like the tornado in Washington, over a year ago, that made Washington stronger. It wasn't something we wanted to happen but we overcame it.  We came together, worked together, helped each other.  Now when another town, close, like Coal City, got hit, it hit close to home, some reached out a helping hand. Mahatma Gahdi said, "Strength does not come from physical capacity.  It comes from indomitable will."  You CAN do it.  Whatever you want to do, get sober, get a new job, lose 10 pounds, be happy.  Put your mind to it and you can do it.  You have the strength inside you to do anything you want to.  That's all I have for today.  Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  Today I have been sober 500 days.  Wow!!!  One thing I have learned and am continuing to learn is about when and when not to talk, when to listen.  That is a weakness of mine.  I am a talker, I admit that.  And sometimes that is a good thing.  Somtimes I can help people with my words, but sometimes I need to shut up and listen.  Sometimes I learn more from listening than I do from talking.  "We have two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we speak." -epictetus.  I need to learn WHEN to do each.  That is the struggle.  Also James 1:19 says, "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak , slow to anger."  It is all a learning process, a daily lesson and I am working on.  So practice this today too. Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.  That's all I have for today! Have a great one! Feel free to comment too.  I appreciate feedback.  :)

Good afternoon!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  The weather has been pretty bad around here. Tornadoes again.  It hits too close to home.  One hit the town where my grandma lives, and one where she has her cabin, when a year and a half ago one hit our town.  There are a lot of people suffering right now, without homes.  But at least with the ones around here, no lives were lost.  No matter how dark it may get, love and hope prevail.  And God is always there with us as well, if we just ask Him, He will comfort us.  1 Corinthians 13:13  states "But now faith, hope and love, abide these three, but the greatest of these is love."  There is a lot of love and hope going to those families suffering right now.  There are always so many people suffereing. People's housing getting blown away.  People getting shot for no reason.  It always come back to me being thankful.  I just need to be thankful for where I am today. Thank you God for another day to be alive and sober.  That's all I got for today!  Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  Today I am grateful to be alive. It is a beautiful day to be alive and sober.  Every morning I need to remind myself of how truly blessed I am.  There are so many people that are worse off than I am.  I am always wanting something better, a newer car, a bigger house. But I need to be thankful for what I do have.  Some people don't even have that.  I do work hard for what I have, and I know it isn't a lot, but it is mine.  And I am thankful for it.  And I don't just mean I, I mean we,  Chris and I.  Being thankful is hard sometimes though.  Jeff Dixon said, "Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have, that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have."  A lot of us have a lot more than we think we do.  If we would just take a second to really think about it.  We would realize we really do.  So thank you God for all you have given me and continue to bless me with.  That's all I got for today.  Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  There are some days, well I can't lie, most days, where I want things my way and where I worry.  I know I need to give every day to God and give Him full control.  I need to give Him the steering wheel.  I always seem to grab it back. I need to let it go and give it to God.  I know all this in my head and, yes, it is easy for me to type this out, but to actually live it, on a daily basis, is a whole nother ballgame.  Ideas and quotes sound really nice but actually living them and working them is hard. Praying helps.  Starting each morning, waking up and before I get out of bed and put my two feet on the ground, say a few word to God, first of all thanking Him for another day of life, and giving Him the day before me for His will and His good.  I ask Him for guidance through the day.  When I was drinking and using, I would only pray when I needed something, or to beg for forgiveness.  It was pretty pathetic.  Today I can pray for many different things.  That's all I got for today.  Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  I heard some news this morning of a good friend in recovery that has passed away.  But as far as I know he passed away sober.  He had some recent health problems, but I never saw this coming.  He was not much older than me.  He's too young to die.  But  that's the reality of it.  It can happen to anyone at anytime.  I keep telling myself.  At least he died sober.  There are so many people out there that don't.  That don't ever get the opportunity to get sober.  Or that go back out there and don't come back.  This is the first person I really knew that I have lost in sobriety. Today my heart hurts.  Today I pray for all those still suffering.  But I also pray for those that have gotten sober and had the opportunity to live a live of sobriety and enjoy life.  Thank you God.  That's all for today.  Have a great one!

Good afternoon!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict.  There were days when I thought I wasn't good enough, or why even try.  Looking back I wish I would have quit sooner.  I wish I would have listened to all the people who cared about me who were telling me I needed help.  I missed out on a lot of stuff. But I can't go back.  But I can tell you that today you have a chance to change your life today.  Today can be the day you can change your life.  Today may be the day your son or daughter needs you more than ever.  The day your husband needs his wife back. Life is precious.  It is a gift from God and can be taken at any moment.  We take that for granted a lot of the time.  We think those other people will always be there.  That we can get high or drink one more time, and they will be there when we come down.  Or that they will be there when we wake up.  That is not always the case.  We don't always wake up.  They don't always stay.  Today is the day for change.  That's all I have for today. Have a great one!

Good morning!  My name is Lauren and I'm a grateful, recovering alcoholic/addict. I feel my job here on this earth is to help others.  Help others in recovery, to share my story, to share my experience, strength, and hope.  I don't know if anyone reads this.  I don't know if this helps anyone.  But it helps me.  I am always here if anyone needs to talk, anytime.  If it is 2 am and you want to drink, message me, call me.  I will talk. I have been there.  My second book will be coming out soon!  It is called 100 Days (sober).  I can't wait! I am doing final editing right now.  The cover is being finalized currently too.  It takes a lot of work to put a book together.  I still have copies of my first book From the Weeds.  It is a collection of poems from all stages of my life: from depression and addiction to recovery and hope.  You can also get it on amazon, but if you get it directly through me, I will sign it.  :)  I am also going to start selling bookmarks with my poem "Courage to Change"  on it.  It will soon be in my store too.  Well, that's all for today.  Have a great one!