Free2BSober

Hi, I'm "Free2BSober" and this is my first post here on the site.

I've been able to successfully shake a series of addictions over the years, mostly on my own, sometimes with a little help from my friends. I never went the traditional therapy route, though I did attend some 12-step meetings. I know a lot of people rely on that system, but it did not really motivate me to stay clean. Different strokes, I guess.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some of my favorite inspirational quotes in this thread. I hope you derive as much benefit as I did from them.

All the best, and a happy recovery to everyone

F2BS

Here are some to start with:

I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness.
- Dalai Lama

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Leana

I don't know who said this but love this quote

What other people say about you is none of your business.

Free2BSober

I really liked that one! I believe it's attributed to Martha Graham.

Free2BSober

“Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.”
- William Alexander

Free2BSober

“One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” - Sigmund Freud

Free2BSober

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Free2BSober

“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” -Arthur C. Clarke

Free2BSober

I think we're looking for something a little more... uplifting with these quotes, but thanks for contributing to my maiden thread on the site

Free2BSober

"Addiction should never be treated as a crime. It has to be treated as a health problem. We do not send alcoholics to jail in this country. Over 500,000 people are in our jails who are nonviolent drug users."
- Ralph Nader

Free2BSober

"No one is immune from addiction; it afflicts people of all ages, races, classes, and professions."
- Patrick J. Kennedy

Thepatman

Mine is in my signature ;-)

Free2BSober

"I admire anyone who rids himself of an addiction."
- Gene Tierney

Free2BSober

"Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain. Whatever the substance you are addicted to - alcohol, food, legal or illegal drugs, or a person - you are using something or somebody to cover up your pain."
- Eckhart Tolle

Thepatman

Awesome quotes! Love it!!

Free2BSober

“I am not your victim because you are not a predator any more than a bottle of scotch stalks an alcoholic.”
― Sue William Silverman, Love Sick: One Woman's Journey through Sexual Addiction

Free2BSober

“Not feeling is no replacement for reality. Your problems today are still your problems tomorrow”
― Larry Michael Dredla

Free2BSober

“One who will not accept solitude, stillness and quiet recurring moments...is caught up in the wilderness of addictions; far removed from an original state of being and awareness. This is 'dis-ease.”
― T.F. Hodge

Free2BSober

“If the last to know he’s an addict is the addict, then maybe the last to know when a man means what he says is the man himself, he reflected.”
― Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly

Free2BSober

“Your lowest moment in life can be your best if you survive it and learn from it”
― Brian Cuban

Free2BSober

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a
battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son,
The battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,
greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment
Inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,
empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."