by Colleen Harrison | May 13, 2013 | abstinence, Recovery, Step 3
Abstinence is not always recovery. What?!? Many people want to believe that abstinence is the end-all of a Twelve Step program. While it’s extremely important, abstinence is the result, not the goal. Recovery is not born of abstinence. Abstinence grows from recovery....
by Colleen Harrison | Mar 1, 2013 | abstinence, Addiction, Change of Heart, Recovery
Doing abstinence with God—putting Him in charge of defining it, letting Him guide us in applying it, relying on His strength to live it—elevates abstinence to a holy sacrament. With God, the spirit of abstinence becomes one of joyful surrender, as our willingness to...
by Colleen Harrison | Feb 25, 2013 | abstinence, Change of Heart, Led by Spirit, Recovery
And thus mercy . . . encircles them in the arms of safety. (Alma 34:16) Learning how to be abstinent is like learning how to walk on a balance beam. At first, you are very, very clumsy. You gain your balance for a moment, take a couple of shuffling steps, and then...
by Colleen Harrison | Dec 31, 2012 | abstinence, Change of Heart, Perfectionism
A new year is upon us and many of us are taking inventory and making plans to change. We desire to be better, to do better, so we make long lists of resolutions, detailed itemizations of things we need or want to change in our lives. I think that taking inventory and...
by Colleen Harrison | Dec 26, 2012 | abstinence, Recovery, Twelve Steps
And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33) For most people, the one sure way to quickly become abstinent and then to consistently continue in abstinence is to start with a humble, simple abstinence. We must view our...
by Colleen Harrison | Oct 3, 2012 | abstinence, Addiction, Recovery, Tools
Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer. (D&C 59:14) Fasting is not meant to be a negative experience. It is more than just refraining from eating. Fasting is as much about attitude as about action. It refocuses our...
