Recovery Road

In his book Twelve Step Sponsorship: How It Works, author and sponsor Hamilton B. writes for both sponsors and sponsees, helping people at any stage of recovery understand and apply the guidance of the Twelve Steps and make the most of the sponsor relationship. In this excerpt, he explores the hard but rewarding practice of face-to-face relationship repair that is the focus of the Ninth Step, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

In her book Conscious Service: Ten Ways to Reclaim Your Calling, Move beyond Burnout, and Make a Difference without Sacrificing Yourself, Elizabeth Bishop offers practical tools for self-connection and self-care. In this excerpt, she describes how to build supportive relationships before we need them. Tapping the insights and support of "Safe Sounding Boards" can help us navigate difficult situations without losing our cool or threatening our recovery.

A pair of short meditations selected from mid-May entries in two of Hazelden Publishing's classic meditation series of books: Day by Day and Twenty-Four Hours a Day. Today's Meditation Monday selections invite us to cultivate patience, learn to avoid overreacting, and share the load with others.

In her book Conscious Service: Ten Ways to Reclaim Your Calling, Move beyond Burnout, and Make a Difference without Sacrificing Yourself, Elizabeth Bishop offers practical tools for self-connection and self-care. In this excerpt, she challenges us to explore and celebrate what makes each of us great—and she's not interested in lies, or bragging, or puffed-up half-truths. Claiming our greatness is all about honesty.

When it feels like we're trapped and all we want to do is escape, how do we do that without turning to our addictions? Look to Jodie Gould's High: Six Principles for Guilt-Free Pleasure and Escape for how to use art to find pleasure.