DesertEyes

Goodness, _nobody_ arrives here with the courage to leave. If it were that easy there would not be therapists and marriage counselors and hundreds of self-help books at the bookstore and who knows how many thousands of web sites.

I got the courage little by little, and even then I needed a good prod from _three_ therapists.

What works for me is to get involved in _any_ activity outside the house. I go to lots of extra al-anon meetings, just to get out. I find some volunteer program to help out with, this year it was collecting food at work. I grab the phone lists from the meetings and call peeps just to ask them how they are doing and let them know I am thinking of them.

I do extra things for me. I get myself one special gift that has meaning, which to me is just a small butterfly ornament to put on my tree. I put in a little overtime at work so I can have extra long lunch breaks, or sleep in a little bit on Mondays.

Lots of small things, which add up little by little. All of recovery has worked that way for me, never a big huge change all at once, just lots of small ones.

Mike