Beating Addictions & Bad Habits is about Facing our Fears, not Numbing Them.

Life was way easier when I was a drinker.

I got up and showered every morning. I worked hard all day at a job I could tolerate. I came home, had a few drinks, ate dinner with my family, went to bed hoping to have sex with my wife, and went to sleep either satisfied or mildly disappointed.

I got up the next day, and did it all over again. On the weekends, I mowed the lawn, went to church, and drank a little more than I did during the week. I had enough money to pay the mortgage and take a family vacation every year. I was living the American dream, right?

Then something happened. The well-oiled machine began to chug and lurch. My smooth and typical existence got the hiccups. I crossed the invisible line into alcohol addiction. I suffered. My wife suffered. My family suffered, and I had to stop drinking.

My alcoholism was a whole big thing. I’ve written lots about it , but that’s not what I’m writing about here. This is about how my world opened up, and my life evolved, when I stopped drinking.

Last weekend was supposed to be the Kentucky Derby, and I started thinking about race horses on Saturday afternoon. They run around a track, semi-willingly, as fast as they can. Sure, they are being…