It’s Funny Friday And A Special Guest Blog!

Welcome Recovery Friends and New Visitors;

Happy TGIF & Weekend to all. I thought I’d share a few funnies before I share
my Recovery Guest with you today! I happen to TWEET a little this morning before posting.
This is what I found:
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Then I went to check my emails, but found why “Mr. Ed” here was laughing. He happened to get my emails before me and read something “Cute & Funny” before I got a chance too! So I thought I would share the JOKE with all of you:
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*From My Good Friend “Dave”*
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A family is at the dinner table. The son asks his  father,
“Dad, how many kinds of boobs are there?”

The father, surprised, answers, “Well son, there are three kinds of
boobs. In her 20s, a woman’s are like melons, round and firm. In her
30s, 40s and 50’s they are like pears, still nice but hanging a bit. After 60, they are like onions.”

“Onions?”

“Yes, you see them and they make you  cry.”

This infuriated his wife and daughter so the daughter said, “Mum, how  many kinds of “willies” are there?”

The mother, surprised, smiles and  answers, “Well, dear, a man goes
through three phases.  In his  20’s, his willy is like an oak tree, mighty
and hard.  In his 30s, 40s  and 50’s it is like a birch, flexible but
reliable. After his 60s, it is like  a Christmas tree.”

“A Christmas tree?”

“Yes.  The tree is  dead, and the balls are just for decoration.”….
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OK, so there you have it! Your Friday Funny!….

Now lets get down to “Recovery” shall we?…

As many of you know, I enjoy sharing many of the awesome recovery sites I come across.
Even though my addiction was “Addicted Gambling,” I like to share other types of addiction sites too.
WHY?
Because addiction is addiction, and the habits and behaviors we have can be almost the same. So my *Guest Recovery Site* today is my good friend, “Robert Hunt” ~ Blogger for “XL Drug Rehab Blog” and you can visit them here:
http://xldrugrehabblog.com …

“They help others with addictions like, Drugs, Alcohol, Eating Disorders and Self-Harming. They also help with info on “Sober Living”….

There blog posts are informational, helpful and share “Awareness” of many different addictions. In order for others to understand what it’s like to recover, and the more awareness we can raise, will just help many our communities who are feeling the “Pains” of addiction by to much loss of life! Especially our teens.
You see, addiction has no bounds with touching our “Teens”…… as they already have enough “Peer Pressure” just trying to grow up into adults. It’s one of the reasons I started this blog.

There are many important issues facing our Teens and young adults these days. It’s time to get involved, to have those “TALKS” with your kids. Surprisingly parents should add Gambling Addiction to the “Talk” as well. WHY?
Because High School age teens and College students are in the fastest growing Bracket of “Problem Gamblers”……
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SO let me Welcome Robert Hunt of XL Drug Rehab Blog, and when you visit? Let him know *Cat* sent you over to there Blog!

Here are a few of my favorite posts written by Robert”…
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The Most Common Sobriety Challenges – Drug Addiction Triggers

Posted on 04. Dec, 2013 by  Robert Hunt in Drug Abuse, Sober Living

For those that have recently gone through a drug rehabilitation program, triggers can be one of the biggest sobriety challenges.
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Triggers can come in many forms, including places, people and activities. Often, drug treatment counselors will advise their patients to avoid anything that can possibly trigger impulses and urges. Some triggers are known, and thus, easier to avoid. There are other drug addiction triggers that only become identifiable once they are actually encountered. You can’t avoid all drug addiction triggers, but you can prepare yourself with a plan of action that will enable you to overcome them in time.

After a patient has successfully completed a drug rehabilitation program, he or she will need to create an actionable life strategy for maintaining sobriety. Gaining stable employment, finding new hobbies and creating a supportive network of friends and family are just a few of the most important components of healthy future plans. This is also the time when patients will be most heavily influenced by temptations and sobriety challenges.  Seeing and experiencing the world with sober eyes, thinking about what you have gained and considered the consequences of your actions is your foremost defense against the challenges of sobriety.

When you come across a drug addiction trigger, you will need to figure out how to handle it. This means that you will likely need to overcome the same triggers many times until you find that they no longer cause emotional and psychological reactions. People that might have helped to fuel your drug addiction will cease to have that power over you as you continue on the road to sobriety. It is normal to feel weak, but falling back on mantras, creative outlets and connecting with positive influences will help you to get through these difficult moments.

Drug addiction triggers are different for everyone. During treatment, you will be asked to list all the sobriety challenges that you think will make a difference in your life. Meeting with a drug addiction counselor to discuss your feelings, talk about your accomplishments and create an effective defense against drug addiction triggers will make the challenges of sobriety much more manageable…..
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*They also reach out & Help Teens as well*
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Teen Depression Treatment: Equine Therapy Helps Teens Reconnect

Posted on 21. Dec, 2013 by  Robert Hunt in Self Harm, Sober Living

You might have felt this way for a while and can’t quite remember when it started, if it started or simply always has been. If you named how you feel, you would probably say depressed, sad, down, disinterested, tired, irritated, and apathetic. Perhaps you are having headaches and stomach aches or can’t sleep, and have been missing school because you just don’t feel well. Maybe you are spending more time alone or with a couple of trusted friends or your dog. You can’t stand the idea of being with or near your parents, brothers or sisters, or other family members. Why can’t  they just leave you alone!  If only they would, then maybe you wouldn’t be so angry, irritable, agitated or numb. They don’t get it, and, obviously, don’t care.

Teen depression impairs the way you feel, think, and experience yourself and others.  It effects relationships and is something experienced, not only be the teen, but by those who love and care about him/her.  Undiagnosed and untreated depression in adolescents can result in inappropriate and misinformed characterizations of the young person who is struggling with the disorder.  If you think that you or someone you know may be experiencing depression it is important to seek help.  But depression can make it challenging to help the depressed teen, to reach a young person whose symptoms make her/him more and more unreachable and disconnected.

The impact of depression on the teen and his/her family is often damaging and far-reaching:  siblings who were once best friends will come to animosity and resentment, parents who had unwavering patience will become distrusting and short-tempered.  It’s important for a parent to help and try to stay supportive of their teen, even if he/she hates the attention. Depression’s destructive impact on relationships often makes it challenging for loved ones to give the necessary support and understanding and almost impossible for the adolescent to receive it.  For these reasons, Equine Therapy can be effective in penetrating the social withdrawal and emotional recoil symptomatic of adolescent depression, thereby improving the interpersonal dynamics of the family group.

As herd animals, horses are extraordinarily sensitive to social order and relational cues.  Equine therapy employs the horses’ innate relational acuity to aid teens in understanding how depression is effecting their self-perception and their interactions with others.  Unlike humans, horses will move toward a person who is emotionally suffering, inviting them into the comfort of “the herd.”  Many adolescents are profoundly open to interactions with animals, allowing a degree of personal vulnerability, and emotional authenticity that they are hesitant, and with depression, unable to tap into with other people.  In the hands of a skilled Equine Therapist and horses, a teen suffering from depression can find an accelerated rate of recovery and gain insight into how the disorder is and has affected their relationship to friends and family.  By experiencing relational dynamics with the horses, teens learn to reconnect with family members in constructive and supportive ways…..
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*Courtesy & Copyright Credit is to Robert Hunt, RecoveryRobert, and XLDrugRehabBlog.com*

 You can find me on Twitter via @RecoveryRobert
Come and visit our blog at http://xldrugrehabblog.com/ …
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*I Thank Robert from http://xldrugrehabblog.com for letting me share the work they do at XL, and please take some time to Visit their blog. If you or anyone you know has an addiction and needs help? Robert is there to see that you’ll get started on the road to Recovery*!
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God Bless Everyone, and Have a “Fabulous Sober Weekend”!
*Author, Catherine Townsend-Lyon*