Full disclosure, I was not a “glass half full” or “optimistic” person for a large portion of my life. The reasons are many, but what matters more to me today is how that changed.  

It started in 2017, and naming one thing I liked about myself each day and telling someone. This was not my idea …  but I’m a rule follower, so I did this and here is what happened …

April is #AlcoholAwarenessMonth. Let’s start having more honest conversations about alcohol use. Stop romanticizing it as socially beneficial, fun, or necessary for (insert whatever event, situation you choose).  We make the best choices when we have honest, transparent, and evidence-based information.

February is known as “Love Month.” The focus on relationships is either celebrated or dreaded depending on your status. Love focuses on another person’s well-being, growth, freedom, and individuality. Attachment is conditional and focused on personal safety, comfort, or validation. Is “falling in love” about how the other person makes you feel about yourself?

New Year’s Resolutions didn’t ever work for me.  They were too broad, not actionable, and unrealistic. They felt more like “all or nothing” pressure statements. “Be Happier, Lose Weight, Less Stress, Be Healthier …” 

These are the top five concepts that I embraced for personal growth in 2025.  Remove Expectations, Courage to Change, Self-Awareness, Values & Everything is Temporary.
“The circus remains in town” (Anne Lamott). The illusions are built with bright and shiny things. Deceptions and distractions. Thankfully, my time there was temporary.

What does gratitude mean? Is it an emotion, attitude, moral virtue, habit, personality trait, or coping response? Scientific research, randomized clinical trials, and peer-reviewed articles point to a link between gratitude and well-being.  I like that science backs up what I know to be true, but I didn’t start practicing gratitude because of empirical data.

How well do you handle your emotional responses? Emotions that seem prolonged, intense or out of proportion to the situation. We all have times when this happens. The question is are you even aware of your emotional responses in real time? How long have you been living with consistent dysregulation?

Spirituality is often defined as finding meaning and purpose in life, through values, beliefs, and connection to something larger than oneself. The “God Thing,” as someone close to me calls it, changed everything in my life.  There is a transcendent commitment beyond myself that makes life worthwhile. Who am I when no one is watching?

Once upon a time I used to write. Then I stopped writing because someone read a diary of mine. Some writing is meant to be shared, some is meant to be just for me. Writing seemed unsafe. Maybe my words, stolen and taken out of context was my fault? I made myself smaller, kept more secrets and tried to be “perfect.” In recovery, I had to get honest.

“Other people are not responsible for your hurt feelings; they are not living by the expectations or standards you have assigned them.”  Ouch, uncomfortable truth.  How rude of this person to pull me out of my self-pity, disappointment spiral, and make me feel better.