Please Don’t Miss This

IT REALLY IS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

It’s a time when people’s hearts seem more open to the hurts of others, more caring toward others, and more aware of the deep pain in our culture!

It’s also an amazingly wonderful time of connection, yes even for families facing the crisis of someone we love fighting to break free from addiction or navigate a mental health issue. IT IS POSSIBLE!

Granted, that is not always easy to do, but when possible, we should not miss the opportunity the magic of Christmas offers for healing in relationships.

This is an image of our daughter “LaLa” on the last Christmas we got to celebrate with her. Only a handful of months later I got to sit with her as she was talking to a worker/friend from the detox center she was in. She recounted how special this past Christmas was for her. In large part, she explained, because it was the first time in many years that she ENJOYED a Christmas without being high. She did not expect that.

A CHRISTMAS NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN

Its moments, experiences, and events—I call them “Doing Life Experiences”– that trigger the natural reward system designed into us to help us enjoy life and the people we love. Chemical substances produce huge floods of dopamine and others chemicals that basically mask our ability to enjoy these natural “joy” boosters as they were designed. It produces what some have referred to as “Chasing the Dragon”.  The constant pursuit of a high you just can’t get any more. Lauren once shared to me that she no longer does drugs to get high, she is just trying to get somewhere near normal. Once in this situation, the addicted individual literally must retrain and relearn that the natural gifts of relationship, intimacy, love, can fulfill us again. LaLa in her statement and during  Christmas of 2016 began to see and experience that. ITS IS POSSIBLE! This post about our brain explains more.

The video included with this post is one that immediately floods my heart, mind, and soul with overwhelming feelings of love, happiness, and fullness. It makes so sweet the many days we enjoyed before the ominous clouds of addiction and mental health issues overshadowed our lives.

It was 1999 the first Christmas we celebrated in the house we currently live in. Lauren and her A1 since day 1 (her twin brother Evan) were just shy of 4 years old. In the video, they share some interesting observations that are pure gold to me and my wife. It’s very personal and I guess some may feel its like watching old videos of our last family vacation. I understand, if you do want to watch the 9 minute video just click below, if not, no worries,  I still love you. At the very least you will get to hear Nat King Cole sing his infamous song.

A RAW DEPICTION OF WHY FAMILY MATTERS

Last week I saw a trailer for the documentary “Our American Family”. Rotten Tomatoes said of the documentary “Our American Family is a brutally honest documentary that gives viewers an inside look into how addiction affects families.” That statement is true, it is also true that addiction and mental health in the lives of people we love turns families completely upside down. If someone you love is fighting a mental health issue the documentary “That Way Madness Lies” is very reveal about how severe mental illness impacts a family.

Every addict needs to know somebody is still standing with them in the fight.

That’s why it is so important to be sure to do our best to not miss the opportunity Christmas, the holidays, present. Please Don’t Miss This!

This weeks featured image is by Brooke Shaden called “CRASH”. That is exactly what happens to a family when an addiction or mental health issue overwhelms their world. They have been t-boned while crossing an intersection in life. All the traffic has stopped. Broken bodies are everywhere and no one in the vehicle is uneffected.