Living with Addiction - Day 27

Good Morning -

It's been weeks now since I finally stopped playing Ceasars Slots. They are still sending me emails about new adventures and games and specials, etc. I suspect they will keep doing that hoping I'll come back to play, but I have no intention too. I'm doing so well. I wouldn't be surprised though if they send me some type of gift. Let's hope they don't, but if they do, I'll just smile and say to the universe, thanks.

I'm excited about a course I will be taking in September at College of Dupage. It's only two sessions but the class is about self-publishing through Amazon. Amazon has a program KDA, Kindle Direct. It's their version of self-publishing. The class will teach you how to upload your book on line on Amazon. I know when I was with my last publisher, she had expressed getting a book in Kindle version or on Amazon in general was complicated and rather expensive, as Amazon takes a good portion of your profits. I guess I will see and look forward to doing the sessions. 

I started working with a book The Addiction Recovery Journal, by Natalie Feinblatt, PsyD. It's kind of cool, it guides you by using prompts, practices and encouragement as you live with addiction. You can write in the book which I like. The journal is broken into six different sections: 1) Understanding Your Addiction and Recovery 2) Exploring Chronic Stress, Trauma and the Nature of Relapses 3) Managing Difficult Thoughts and Emotions 4) Building Healthy Relationships 5) Navigating High-Risk Situations and Environments and 6) Establishing a Lifestyle to Help Prevent Relaps. I'm working on Section 1 now, but I think I will move to Section 3 after that.

So far therapy is going great. I never thought how much I missed going through the years. Right now with the costs so manageable I want to take advantage of this time. I really feel empowered when I leave my therapist's office. I also think it is healthy to get out of the house sometimes. I tend to isolate myself often but I'm trying to be more sociable. The tough part will come in the colder months. Hopefully by then, I won't have any relapse and fall back into bad habits with playing the FB game.

I bought a blender so I'm looking forward to helping myself on the healthy front as I think that also has lots to do with low self-esteem and loving yourself, which I think could have easily contributed to the habitual behavior of the game. I like making food that is fun but not difficult to understand. I can certainly follow recipes, although some...well, you get the idea. I think for me, doing these Smoothies is great as they are much more easier to do. I have a recipe book as well to help. I'm not the best person when it comes to the kitchen, but I think this too will give me a sense of pride and happiness and definitely fill that boredom time in the morning before I start work.

Anyway, that's all for now.