Thursday, 5 November 2015

Dublin Part 2

My Mother and I spent a lovely day in Dublin yesterday 
As I wrote yesterday
It's a bit of a marathon journey to get there
Three and half hours in total
But
It's worth it
And it's always nice to get an injection of city living
After living in towns and cities all my life
We moved here to the countryside ten years ago
It took some getting used to I can tell you
I can remember moving here after living in Dublin
I couldn't get over how quiet it was
And I hated it 
The silence was deafening
But like everything 
I got used to it 
And love living here now 

We arrived in Dublin about midday at Connolly station
And walked up towards the spire 
Down Talbot Street 
This area of the city is interesting to say the least
With many colourful characters around 
We crossed O Connell street 
Over to Henry street
Where we concentrated our efforts 
First stop
Was where I really wanted to go 
Fatface 
Which had a great sale on
Where I quickly picked up a couple of items 
I am a serious shopper
In that I get in and get out as quickly as possible 
I was happy with my purchases
A skirt
A jumper
And two bralets which were less than half price 
We then went to pick up some Christmas gifts for my nephew and sisters
Then headed for lunch in Marks and Spencer's

I didn't get too many photos 
As it was a quite a bad day
And I didn't want to have my phone out too much 
As it's very possible it could have been snatched out of my hand
But I took a few 
So here they are....
















Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Dublin

As I write this
I am sitting on a train
With my Mother
Heading for Dublin
Dublin is on the east coast of the country
And I live on the west coast
So it's quite a journey
First we have a half hour drive from our house to the train station
Then a three hour train journey to the capital
We tend to go to Dublin a couple of times a year
To see friends 
Do a bit of shopping 
Or just for a day out
Dublin features in my life quite often
I moved here after school with friends
And worked here for a while 
I also frequented Dublin when I was in active addiction 
So it is an old haunt for me
It's also where I went to treatment 
For both drugs and my ED
So coming to Dublin brings back a lot of memories for me
Some good 
Some not so good 

The last time I was in Dublin was this time last year
When I met up with a couple of girls from treatment 
We had a lovely day going for lunch
Shopping
And catching up
The girls I went to treatment with have a special place in my heart
And I love to meet up with them when I can
But yes
Dublin has bitter sweet memories for me
I first moved there with three friends in the year 2000
We rented a two bedroom flat on the south side 
And I found work as a receptionist for a quantity surveying company
I didn't realise at the time
But my job was cushy 
I basically had to turn up and just be there 
To answer the phone and direct calls
The money was good 
We often went out for lunch and dinner
All paid by the company 
And the people were lovely
But it was around this time that my drug use began to spin out of control
I was fighting with my flat mates
Missing days off work 
I can remember going to bed one Sunday evening
And I didn't wake up until Tuesday afternoon
I was falling quickly in to addiction 
I left my job 
And moved out of the flat 
I went home to my boyfriend 
And my life began to spin out of control

Over the next few years 
I was up and down to Dublin regularly 
Constantly on buses 
Going to the capital to get drugs 
At first I was with my boyfriend all the time
So I felt safe enough
But then 
After a while 
I was all in my own 
It was dicey 
Me 
A young girl from the country up in the big smoke messing with the wrong crowd
I had no defence
And was taken advantage of many times
I can remember having to ring the freephone number in order to find a bed in a hostel for the night
Because I had no where else to stay
I can remember overdosing and my 'friends' running off and leaving me for dead 
Only for the kindness of strangers 
I would have most likely died on the street
I can remember one incident in particular 
I was hanging around with a guy I had met 
We went to his flat 
And injected heroin and dalmane (sleeping tablet)
I overdosed 
And was in a bad way 
I remember this guy putting me in the shower to wake me up 
Then he put me to bed 
And made me tea and toast 
I left when I felt better
But a few days later 
I went to call back to his flat 
A girl answered with kids
And said no one of that name lived there
It was really strange
As I was at the same flat
I never saw or heard from that guy again 
I don't even know if he really existed

In 2004
I spent six months in treatment in Dublin for my addiction 
It was here that I admitted that I also had an ED
I relapsed within weeks of being home
Then in 2007
I went to treatment for my ED for the first time
It was nothing short of horrific
We were all made sit at our meals
The staff gave us our portions
And we had to sit there until we had eaten everything 
It didn't matter if you didn't like a certain food
You had to eat everything
That stint ended in disaster when staff found out that I had an addiction problem
They promptly discharged me
It was awful

The next time I went to treatment was in the countries top psychiatric hospital
Which has an ED programme
But this was no typical psych hospital
This place was lovely 
You had your own room with ensuite
It was really comfortable and homely 
For people with either a lot of money or good insurance 
Thankfully I had the latter 
All in all 
I've been in and out of this hospital five times
I never managed to reach my goal weight
Or even finish the programme
For me 
Inpatient treatment did not work
Being surrounded by other girls 
Who were very ill
And often underweight 
Was not conducive to my recovery
I always did better recovering from home 

So yes 
Dublin has featured in my life a lot over the years 
I do find it quite difficult to come back here
As I often get triggered 
The sights 
My old stomping ground 
The smell the from the Guinness brewery that always reminds me of heroin
Seeing addicts on the street
Places where I used to score 
It can be overwhelming
And I make it a rule not to come here alone 
I do need the security of having someone there 
If only just to be there
I know that my addiction can creep up on me
And hit me right between the eyes
I can't become complacent 
Which I have a tendency to do
But 
I will do my best to enjoy today
My Mum and I are going to hit the shops 
As my Mum wants to buy a new coat
And so do I 
It's great to go to Dublin for the shops
As there is not a great selection where I live 
But I am on a budget
So I will have to shop carefully 

Anyway 
We are nearly in Dublin now
So I will sign off
And give you a proper update tomorrow
Until then....


Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Social media, yay or nay?

Have you heard of Essena  O Neill?

I must admit 

I hadn't heard of her 

But apparently she was a big star on Instsgram and YouTube 

And I stumbled across an article about her this morning

In the last couple of weeks 

Essena has deleted her social media accounts

And told the truth behind the photos

The following is from an article about Essena

An Australian teenager with more than half a million followers on Instagramhas quit the platform, describing it as “contrived perfection made to get attention”, and called for others to quit social media – perhaps with help from her new website.

On 27 October she deleted more than2,000 pictures “that served no real purpose other than self-promotion”, and dramatically edited the captions to the remaining 96 posts in a bid to to reveal the manipulation, mundanity, and even insecurity behind them. O’Neill did not respond to requests for an interview.


I think it's a really important thing to discuss

Social media and how it effects us

If you look at some of the photos Essena posted on her sites 

The are of a perfectly tanned and toned slim body in a variety of beautiful outfits 

Essena explained how she measured her self worth in the amount of likes and comments she got

As well as the amount of followers she acquired 

She said that some of the photos of outfits she took never made it outside her house

She also said that although she was portraying this perfect life 

With a perfect body 

She was in actual fact miserable

I think it's a really interesting topic

As social media is relatively new in all our lives

The present young generation are the first generation to grow up with social media woven in to the fabric of their lives

And as yet 

We don't really know the effects of it in the long term 

Also social media celebrities are a new phenomenon 

You can now become famous via your YouTube channel or Instagram

If you can accumulate enough subscribers and followers 

And make enough money to make a very decent living

I don't use Instagram or YouTube 

But I peruse them from time to time

It seems like everyone on there is projecting their image of the perfect life

Endless photos of long lean limbs

At the beach 

Doing yoga

Eating fabulous food

Cocktails 

Their pets 

All the while in an array of beautiful outfits

It's easy to fall in to the trap of thinking that these Instagram celebs lead a perfect life

As this is the image they portray to us

Even Facebook can be like this 

I have a Facebook account

But rarely use it

I think I have posted maybe three photos on it over the years

I do scroll through it from time to time

But not often

I guess I use my blog to document my life

And don't feel the need to open any other social media accounts

My blog is about a specific subject

Recovery from addiction and ED

But as you know

I also post about many other areas of my life 

From my family to my pets and everything in between

There have been times when I have worried over the amount of comments I got and the amount of hits my blog got of a day 

That was me measuring my self worth in the eyes of other 

I try not to do that now

And concentrate on writing my blog as best as I can

If people read and comment great

But if they don't, that's ok too

My blog is primarily for me

To help me navigate through recovery

And if I can help someone else along the way, that is a bonus

I think it's all about self worth

A lot of us ED bloggers measure our self worth in pounds and ounces 

By the number on the scale 

Or our clothes size 

Those little numbers control how good we feel about ourselves 

Thankfully I can now look stand on the scale and not have a complete and utter meltdown over the number

I can weigh myself 

Look at the number

And see it for what it is 

My body's weight in stones and pounds or kilograms 

It does not determine how I am as a person

My self worth

I can see how people easily get caught up in the stats of blogging and social media

It's easy to fall in to the trap of getting a buzz seeing your stats rise

Or seeing the amount of people who say how great you are

If you were reading a few weeks back

You will remember the hullabaloo over a comment on my blog

Someone who cared enough to tell me the truth

I didn't see it like that at the time

And saw it as an attack

However now

In hindsight

I can see that that person was trying to help me

I appreciate that now

And learned valuable lessons from that incident


The thing is 

We can't hang our happiness on a number

Whether it's a clothes size or the amount of likes we get

Yes, it's nice to get them

But our self worth should come from a deeper place

A place of knowing that we are good people

That we are doing our best to do the right thing and be the best people we can be

I guess time will tell how social media effects us in the long term

I think what Essena did is very brave 

Scrolling through social media can be quite depressing if you compare yourself to all these beautiful people

We have to have strong core beliefs in ourselves

That we are enough just the way we are

Know that if we spent all day taking selfies it will never fill the hole in our soul of not liking ourselves 

I've been struggling lately with not liking and even hating myself 

I've had to take a good look at my life

And see what is helping me and what is hindering me

For me 

The positives of my blog greatly out weigh the negatives 

This community has been a life line for me over the years

But lately I've realised that my virtual life is not enough

I need real life relationships 

Real life interactions 

Because we all need to connect with others

You can't beat sitting down over a cup of tea and putting the world to right

At least in our own little worlds 


With all that said 

I was wondering about you 

What do you think of social media?

Do you use Instagram or YouTube?

Do you check how many like, comments and followers you get?

Do you think it helps or hinders you?

Do you measure your self worth by external forces?

I'd love to know....


Monday, 2 November 2015

Attacking the problem

Monday again
It's hard to believe that it's November already
Where does the time go?
Monday is doctor day for me 
My own doctor has been away the last few weeks so it was nice to see him this morning 
Before he spoke to me 
He said he had to ring home for a second 
This is what I heard 

'Hello love
Yea it's me
Listen I brought your phone by mistake to work this morning
Yea remember this morning in the bedroom
When I was putting on my trousers I put the wrong phone in my pocket
Can you come and collect it please?
Great
Thank love
Bye bye bye bye....'

I had to fight back the laughter while he was speaking
As it was so funny to hear him out of doctor mode
Some times I forget thdt he has a whole life outside of being a doctor
After that 
We had a quick chat
He filled out my prescription
And I went on to my next appointment

I saw Breda this morning then
I haven't seen her since before I went to Turkey
So I was long overdue a chat with her  
There was a lot to cover 
I told her about Turkey 
About my driving test
At first 
I was totally avoiding talking about my meds 
But I promised myself I would 
So I tentatively brought up the subject 
I always find this kind of thing really difficult to bring up to the professionals
I don't want to disappoint them 
I don't want to worry them 
And it's just really hard admitting that I messed up yet again
However 
I told her
She said thdt I was becoming complacent 
And on dodgy ground
She also mentioned that I have too much time on my hands 
Which is very true
I  bored 
The days and nights are long
I need something to stimulate my mind 
Because at the moment 
I am wishing my life away
Breda encouraged me to contact the women's centre in the next village 
To do some short courses
I've done courses there in the past
They do things like mindfulness and personal developement 
Which are interesting to me
So I will get on to that 

The other topic she broached
Was that of meetings 
As you know 
Up until a few months ago 
I was going to meetings regularly 
But I've let that slide 
And now haven't been to one in quite a while 
Breda made a good point though 
She said thdt I don't have to go every day
Once or twice a week is fine 
And I can go to ones that I feel comfortable at
So that's my goal this week
To get my addict ass to a meeting
I have to go
I will go
I give you my word
i am still giving my meds to my mother
And that is working pretty well
It's not an ideal situation 
But it's a must for now

Given everything that has happened over the last few weeks 
I am now being a bit more cautious about what I write about here in my blog
Don't get me wrong 
I will still be as honest as ever
And continue to fight this battle against addiction and mental illness
I don't know how to be any other way
But I am being careful not to write anything that might leave myself too exposed or vulnerable
Or any one else either
Again
Just because it has happened 
Doesn't mean thdt I have to blog about it
But because I am not writing so openly anymore
I am finding it harder and harder to find things to write about
I still want to write every day
But I won't put pressure on myself
Or beat myself up if I can't think of anything to write 
I write at the same time every time
I get up of a morning 
Have a cuppa 
Walk the dogs 
And while I'm walking them
I think about what topic I wil write about thdt day
Then I come home 
And settle in my living room with another cuppa and my phone and write 
It gives my day structure 
And it's something thdt I do at the same time every day 
Almost like a job 

I have to admit 
That over the last few weeks
I have thought about stopping writing and deleting my blog 
All of a sudden 
I felt really paranoid 
Open 
Exposed 
Vulnerable 
Because as we all know 
Once you put something on the Internet 
It is nigh on impossible to take it back 
There have been times when I have read backo vet my blog
And deleted certain posts
As I felt I had left myself in a dangerous position 
Too open 
And I don't know
In the future I might regret being so brutally honest here on my blog
As it's very possible thdt it could come back to haunt me
When I started writing my blog back in 2012
I wrote anonymously 
And didn't post any photos 
I think there are negatives and positives to being anonymous
But as time went on I decided to be more open 
I began posting photos 
Of myself 
My dogs 
And my family 
And I know that my blog is easily found on the Internet 
So there is really no hiding 
I do keep my name to myself 
But it's not a million miles away from the name Ruby 

Blogger is the only social media that I use 
I don't use Facebook
Twitter 
Or Instagram
I document my life here 
I love writing 
Love my blog 
And I love all of you 
Blogging at the moment is a hobby for me
But I would love if it was something more 
I would love to make my of in to a book 
Or to write for other publications 
I am passionate about helping others with addiction issues and eating disorders 
For a long time 
My writing was focused on my illness 
And trying to stay sane
And stay alive
Now my blog is about trying to stay clean  and sober
Trying to stay free from disordered eating
And helping others 
I hope that people read my blog
And get a little piece of hope
That if I can come through this 
Then you can too
And no
I am not perfect 
I make mistakes on a daily basis 
As you know 
I have done a lot of incredibly stupid things over the years 
Things thdt continue to haunt me
I have more than enough reason to believe that I am a bad person
So much evidence to support that suggestion 
But what I am trying to do 
Is learn from my mistakes 
And not to repeat them again
Recovery is not easy
And again 
I am not doing it perfectly 
Not by a long shot 
But as they say in the rooms
It's not about perfection
It's about progress
I just have to keep fighting 
And putting the effort in 
And I will be ok 
More than ok
I will be alive
And will want to be alive 

For the longest time
I genuinely didn't care if I lived or died 
Life meant nothing to me
And I wasn't afraid of dying 
Life scared me more
I often describe it as having a passive death wish
I wasn't actively seeking out my own death
But I welcomed it with open arms 
I just couldn't stand myself 
Couldn't stand being in my own head
I hated myself 
Hated the way I looked 
My personality
Hated the way I lived my life 
My behaviour 
My weight
I hated everything about myself 
It's only now 
A year in to my recovery 
That I am beginning to like myself 
I'm not quite loving myself yet 
But I am getting there
Baby steps all the way
I'm not perfect 
I never will be 
But I am doing my best 
To be a good person
A good daughter 
Sister 
Auntie 
Doggy mama
I am loved by my nearest and dearest 
And at the age of 34 
I am just beginning to figure out who I am 
And what I do about 
It's scary 
It's weird 
It's fun
It's terrifying 
Thrilling 
Exciting 
Boring
Monotonous 
It's hard 
But it is so worth it 
I promise you that 

Sunday, 1 November 2015

Tattoos/Piercings

As you know
I got my nose pierced a couple of months ago
As well as that 
My ears are pierced five times
And in the past I've had my eye brow and belly button pierced 
I feel like I've been bitten by the piercing bug
As I now want to get something else pierced 
I would really love to get my labret done

 Image result for labret piercing
But the last piercer I spoke to said that it wouldn't work on me
And would interfere with my lower gums
I would like to get my belly button pierced again


Image result for belly button pierced

But I'd so like to get a facial piercing 
So maybe my septum

  Image result for septum piercing


Or between my nose and my upper lip

 Image result for between nose and upper lip piercing
I haven't quite decided yet

Also
I would like to get my first tattoo
I've toyed with the idea for a long time
But couldn't decide on an image
I really like wings on shoulder blades
Not a huge pair 
But quite sizeable
 
Or else I would like to get a feather on my ribs
To remind me to be kind and gentle to myself
 
To remind me to be kind
 Image result for feather on ribs tattoo
Anyway
Something to think about
And to get excited about
Any thoughts welcome......


Saturday, 31 October 2015

Peter Pan Syndrome

I was on the phone to the dog shelter last week
We were in the middle of a conversation
When the lady asked my what age I was
I told her
She began to laugh and said that I sounded like a teenager
I get this a lot 
Told that I sound a lot younger
And even look a lot younger
I know when I was very underweight 
I looked quite strange
I had this childlike body
With the face of a withered old woman 
But as I have become well
And regained weight 
My face has filled out 
As well as the rest of me
And I guess I do look a bit younger than my 34 years

I remember when I was a teenager 
I was in such a hurry to grow up
I did everything young 
My first disco
My first cigarette
My first drink 
My first boyfriend 
All before I was 15
Now that I am an adult
I wish that I had allowed myself to grow up slower
That I had taken the time to enjoy my childhood and teenage years
I look at my nephew
He has just turned 15 
And this week went to his first disco
To me he seems so innocent
I can not imagine him smoking or drinking 
And he seems to have no interest in these things 
Which I am so glad about
Because there is a chance
Like the four members of my own family
That he might inherit that addiction gene
So far he shows no sign of it 
But I know that can all change in a heartbeat

I guess my life thus far has been rocky
I began smoking and drinking at 14
Had my first proper boyfriend at 14
Began taking drugs at 15
And the next 15 years were a Wright off
My twenties
The years when you discover who you are and what you are about 
Didn't happen that way for me
So I guess now in my thirties 
I am living my twenties 
If that makes sense 
Mentally 
I am 24 years old 
Barely an adult 
I guess I dress young too 
In my jeans and trainers and hoodies
But I'm ok with that 
I am still growing up
Finding out who I am 
My views and opinions
My dress sense 
My way of coping 
Of dealing with life

They say that youth is wasted on the young
I agree 
I didn't appreciate my youth 
My childhood 
My teenage years 
I was so busy trying to be an adult 
So busy wanting to grow up
I got my first full time job when I left school
I was doing well
But it wasn't long before my drug use began to spin out of control
The next 14 years were chaotic to say the least 
There were a few years during that time
That I don't know how my family got through
My mum and I were speaking about this just yesterday 
There was a time when four out of six of us were in active addiction
It was crazy 
So many shocking things happened 
Addiction rips families apart
As it did mine 
It's only years later 
And with the four of us in recovery
That our lives have begun to heal
They also say that the age you are when you start using/drinking/starving/purging is the age you stay until you stop
I was 14 when my problems started 
And that makes sense to me 
That I am still a teenager
A young adult 
Mentally
And physically 

I think our eating disorders 
Are also something thdt keeps us from growing up
There is something very child like about EDs
Anorexia is sometimes a protest to growing up
Bulimia is the inability to control ones self
Again 
Like a child 
I know I have resisted growing up once I reached adulthood 
Being an adult
And everything that goes with it
Scared the bejesus out of me
I worried and stressed that I wouldn't be able to cope
Wouldn't be able for the responsibility 
It just all seemed like too much 
I struggled to deal with reality 
Struggled with substances that allowed me to escape from that reality
I struggling with impulse control
Which has bothered me a lot over the years
Like a child 
There is no no for me
I see something and I want it right now 
There is no control
None at all

Its only now
At the age of 34
That I am getting my life together 
That I am starting to grow up
I know I have a lot of work to do
I have taken the first step 
But there are still many miles to go 
And maybe it's actually a nice thing that I don't look my age 
Maybe it will stand to me in years to come 
I've seen over the last couple of weeks
The areas I need to work on
I want to be a responsible adult 
I want to act my age 
Sometimes it bothers me 
That at my age I am still living with a parent 
But then I remember that I am not living with my parents
I am sharing a house with my mum and sister 
I have the freedom to do as I please
And I get on with my mum very well
It would be crazy for me to try and maintain a house by myself 
It makes more sense for me to live here
And I like living here 
I feel safe 
I feel loved
Honey and Lea love it here
They are happy here 
Our house is home 
It's where we all meet for tea
For dinner
To play games 
To celebrate holidays and birthdays 
It's the centre of our family 

With all that said
I was wondering about you
Have you resisted growing up like me?
Do you think that your ED has anything to do with not wanting to grow up?
What age do you feel?
And what age are you?
Do you like being the age you are?
Inquiring minds want to know.....




Thursday, 29 October 2015

Ruby Returns....

I'm back 
After a few days of a blogging break
It felt like years rather than days
I missed blogging 
I missed writing
I missed you
My little blogger family 
My dear friends
I missed the constant to and fro of comments and replies and emails 
I missed feeling part of something
Something bigger than me 
I missed reading your updates
Commenting 
I missed it all
But as I said before I left 
I had acknowledged that my real life needed some work
A lot of work if truth be told
This week has been tough 
I've had to take a good hard look at myself 
My life 
What I do of a day 
How I manage myself
My ups and downs 
My emotions
My relationships 
My addiction
My eating disorder
My medications 
Yes 
It was plain to me 
That my real life needed some attention

There have been a lot of lessons learned in the last few weeks 
Especially around blogging
I learned that just because it happened 
Doesn't mean I need to blog about it
As a rule 
I've always elected not to write about others 
My family 
My friends 
My blogger friends 
But lately I've been bending that rule 
And that is not ok with me
I guess sometimes I feel pressure sometimes to produce the goods where my blog and my writing are concerned 
As you know 
I write everyday
And some days it's incredibly difficult to think of something to write about
So lately I've writing about things that maybe aren't suitable for my blog
Things that should be kept to myself 
Putting pressure on myself to keep interesting and readable
I have broken some key rules that I would usually live my life by
I have written about things that I usually wouldn't have 
The other issue 
Is how open and honest I am on my blog
It's a double edged sword really 
Being that honest I know can help others
And encourage them to be honest too
And I want to continue to be honest 
I really do
But I think I've been putting myself in a vulnerable place lately 
Again
For something to write about 
And almost for the shock factor too
My blog started to become like a fictional story 
A made up character 
Rather than my life
I would read over my blog
And it was like reading about someone else 
Like it wasn't me 
That's not good 
And I love to turn incidents in my life in to stories 
Even the smallest thing can be made in to a good story 
But I have to remember that this is my life  that I am writing and reading about 
It's a real person
Not a character in a story 

Then there is the whole meds situation
I have given responsibility of my meds to my mother 
She is holding on to them 
And I go to her each morning to take them
I know she doesn't really hide them 
I could find them if I wanted to
And she doesn't stand over me as I take them 
So I could stockpile them and continue to mess around them
I can't lie 
Everyday hasn't been perfect 
But I am doing my best 
And a hell of a lot better than I was doing 
So I guess I'm moving in the right direction
I'm seeing Breda on Monday 
So I am going to make it my business to speak to her about my meds
Again 
I am reluctant to talk to my doctor 
But 
I will play that one by ear

I met a good friend yesterday 
A girl I was in treatment with
And have kept in touch with since
We meet up every few weeks 
And it's always so lovely to chat to her
She is a few years older than me 
So she always has some sage words of advice for me
I told her that over the last while
I have been having an existential-type crisis 
You know the one 
Where you ask yourself 
Who am I?
What am I doing ?
Where am I going?
What is my purpose?
Am I just a waste of space?
A burden to my family and society?
I've been asking these question a lot lately 
As a feel I am just treading water 
And barely keeping my head above the water line 
My friend said some really wise things 
That I am doing my best 
That I am enough 
Just the way I am 
That I will find my way
I am finding my way 
I have been through a lot
And am barely a year in to my recovery 
I just need to keep going 
Keep putting one foot in front of the other
And keep fighting 

Another thing I have learned 
Is that I am not perfect
And never will be
No one is 
I've made some pretty horrible mistakes in my life 
And when I am feeling low 
I take them out of the file in the back of my head 
And berate myself with them 
I've been doing that a lot lately 
I've made myself sick to my stomach with all the awful mistakes I have made in my life
If I think about it too much
I really will go insane 
One thing that has been helping me 
Is saying the the serenity prayer

God grant me the serenity 
To accept the things I can not change 
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

There is something so soothing and comforting about saying those words
Over and over
Like a mantra 
A chant 
There is also something comforting knowing that I can't change the past 
I can't change things I've done
I've said 
The people I've hurt 
The utterly stupid mistakes that I have made 
All I can do is learn the lesson
And move on 

So yes
Hopefully this is the start of me moving in a new healthier direction
I can't lie 
I still have huge urges to escape reality
The thought of living day in day out is
Terrifying 
But 
As my friend said to me yesterday 
Delay 
Delay the thoughts 
Delay the behaviour 
Delay
Also 
All I have to deal with is this 24 hours 
And tomorrow I will deal with when it comes 
I don't know guys 
I guess this is just life 
And sometimes life sucks 
Everyone goes through tough times
Everyone has a story 
A past 
A few skeletons in their closet 
No one is perfect 
Everyone has made mistakes 
It's not just people with mental illness or addiction that need to clean house sometimes 
It's everyone 

By the way 
Just to give you an update on the dog shelter situation
I rang them before I went away 
To let them know I would start when I got back
They said to ring when I returned 
Which I did 
Where upon they told me that they had me on file
And would ring me when I was needed 
I was confused 
As I thought that I would be starting 
But it looks like I might have to call in to them again
As a phone call doesn't seem enough

Anyway
Just wanted to let you guys know that I am here
And I am ok 
As ever 
I will keep writing
Keep showing up and doing my thing
Keep fighting for a better life 
For recovery 
For me and my family