FROM THE TORONTO DAILY STAR
Dick Van Dyke, for years a favorite T.V. Clown, says he has accepted the fact that he is an alcoholic and seeking help, according to syndicated columnist Marilyn Beck.
In a copywrited column distributed recently by the New York Times News Service, Van Dyke told Miss Beck, "I did a lot of worrying. I even phoned Alcoholics Anonymous a couple of times late at night when I was drunk, depressed and on a crying jag. But it wasn't until 15 months ago that I finally accepted the fact I was an alcoholic."
The comedian, who for years carried the image of the ideal family man and pillar of the community, said he regrets not absorbing the truth about alcoholism years ago before it brought anguish to his wife and four children.
But, he said he is grateful his wife never left him.
"Somewhere along the line I progressed from being just a party drinker to the point where I'd race with Margie (his wife) each night to see if I could get drunk before she could get dinner on the table."
Van Dyke said he fooled himself about his problem for years by never drinking at work. "But I knew when 5 p.m. came without checking my watch. The minute work was over, I'd head right for the bottle."
He said last year he started getting the "shakes every morning and had changed from being a happy drunk to being hostile and aggressive."
He committed himself to a facility in Phoenix, Arizona, where he "got help before it was too late" and began to understand some of the reasons I had become an alcoholic."
He noted that commuting between his Arizona home on weekends while spending the weekdays alone in Hollywood where he was shooting his CBS series, was especially hard.
"It was rough. The nights alone were particularly hard, because I had never experienced bachelor life before. I had gone straight from mother to Marjorie.
"On April 3, I slipped off the wagon. I bought a bottle, had four drinks - and got sick to my stomach. The thought that I might become hooked again terrified me, and I poured the rest down the sink. I haven't had another drink since."
Don says: I have the greatest of admiration for this man. He had everything, could have done anything. He chose to face his addiction, and beat it! A wonderful guy!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
WELL KNOWN ALCOHOLICS
FROM THE TORONTO DAILY STAR
Actress Mercedes McCambridge quoted Abraham Lincoln as saying drunkenness often afflicts men of genius and generosity.
The parade of 53 noted men and women who are "recovered" alcoholics was designed to help dispel the stigma of alcoholism - to encourage more of an estimated 10 million alcoholics in the U.S. to seek help.
"My name is Dick Van Dyke, and I'm an alcoholic," and the list went on, with most making their public admission for the first time.
"For a long time, all of us stayed in the closet," said comedian Garry Moore. "It makes me jubilant to come out."
The news conference was sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism, a privately financed group holding anational forum and seeking more money for medical research into the chronic disease.
There were famouse people from many fields.
Other performers included Dana Andrews, Guy Mitchell, Tom Ewell, Jan Clayton. There were athletes: Major League baseball pitchers Don Newcombe and Ryne Duren and Notre Dame University's Athletics director, Edward (Moose) Krause.
The Earl of Kimberley, a member of Britain's House of Lords, joined the ranks, along with U.S. Senator Harold Hughes, and Sylvester Tinker, chief of the Osage Indian Nation.
And more: Reporter Adela Rogers St. Johns: TV Guide editor Rowland Barber, CBS- TV president Thomas Swafford: Very Rev. Joseph Kerine, and Louis Knechi, secretary treasurer of the Communications Workers of America.
Not attending, but adding their names to the list of recovered alcoholics, were actors Robert Young and Jason Robards Jr., comedian Shecky Greene and insurance company president, James Kemper.
Mills said he thought he was dying of a brain tumor before he realized he was an alcoholic.
"I guess I was trying to kill myself with liquor," said the congressman whose escapades with a stripper in the fall of 1974 cost him the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives.
They were unanimous in rejecting the term "reformed" alcoholic, pointing out that alcoholism is an illness, not a moral straying. And they agreed, with laughter and shouts, that it cannot be handled by "controlled" or "limited" drinking,, but only by complet abstinence.
DON SAYS; This a very dated news release, having come out several years ago. Even if it is old it still points out that alcoholism can effect the wealthy and well known members of our society, as well as the lowly in our society. Don Felstead
Actress Mercedes McCambridge quoted Abraham Lincoln as saying drunkenness often afflicts men of genius and generosity.
The parade of 53 noted men and women who are "recovered" alcoholics was designed to help dispel the stigma of alcoholism - to encourage more of an estimated 10 million alcoholics in the U.S. to seek help.
"My name is Dick Van Dyke, and I'm an alcoholic," and the list went on, with most making their public admission for the first time.
"For a long time, all of us stayed in the closet," said comedian Garry Moore. "It makes me jubilant to come out."
The news conference was sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism, a privately financed group holding anational forum and seeking more money for medical research into the chronic disease.
There were famouse people from many fields.
Other performers included Dana Andrews, Guy Mitchell, Tom Ewell, Jan Clayton. There were athletes: Major League baseball pitchers Don Newcombe and Ryne Duren and Notre Dame University's Athletics director, Edward (Moose) Krause.
The Earl of Kimberley, a member of Britain's House of Lords, joined the ranks, along with U.S. Senator Harold Hughes, and Sylvester Tinker, chief of the Osage Indian Nation.
And more: Reporter Adela Rogers St. Johns: TV Guide editor Rowland Barber, CBS- TV president Thomas Swafford: Very Rev. Joseph Kerine, and Louis Knechi, secretary treasurer of the Communications Workers of America.
Not attending, but adding their names to the list of recovered alcoholics, were actors Robert Young and Jason Robards Jr., comedian Shecky Greene and insurance company president, James Kemper.
Mills said he thought he was dying of a brain tumor before he realized he was an alcoholic.
"I guess I was trying to kill myself with liquor," said the congressman whose escapades with a stripper in the fall of 1974 cost him the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives.
They were unanimous in rejecting the term "reformed" alcoholic, pointing out that alcoholism is an illness, not a moral straying. And they agreed, with laughter and shouts, that it cannot be handled by "controlled" or "limited" drinking,, but only by complet abstinence.
DON SAYS; This a very dated news release, having come out several years ago. Even if it is old it still points out that alcoholism can effect the wealthy and well known members of our society, as well as the lowly in our society. Don Felstead
Monday, July 14, 2008
I WOULD BE DEAD BY NOW!
I kept a diary for six months after leaving the Donwood Institute in May of 1969. I happened to find it a few years later and began leafing through it. What I went through was pure Hell. Every day there were depressions, nervous spells, constantly being tired, and overall misery.
Following are quotations from this diary covering two days:
(1) Had an absolutely terrible time at the dentist, was in chair from 9 to 10a.m.. - almost passed out three or four times. Felt nauseous and nervous, and I thought it would never end. This absolutely exhausted me but I dragged myself to Donwood, interacted with residents and staff and felt better. Am writing this at 1 a.m. and feeling ok but must watch all these nauseous feelings - strictly nerves.
(2) Dreamt last night that I drank two bottles of beer on top of the antabuse, awoke very remorseful, but happy to find out I hadn't drank!
(3.) Went to work, had a very bad day, and left at 2.30p.m. Standing at the corner of King and Bay Sts. in Toronto, hating the world, inwardly screaming for a drink to settle me down and take away this awful feeling of despair. A real case of flight syndrome. If I hadn't been full of antabuse I swear I would have gone drinking. It was my deep down fear of the consequences of drinking on top of antabuse that literaly saved my life. Instead, I called a doctor at Donwood and got some valium. Often stagger and felt faint. A dry drunk? Perhaps. At least the pressure was released, without alcohol.
As I look through my diary, I can see now that my biggest problem was nerves, tension and the need for vast quantities of sleep and rest. Many times I was to think "why not pack it in and have a drink. Nothing could be worse than what I am going through".
Not all days were bad, but enough of them were to keep me on edge. I know now that I would have been dead long ago had I continued to drink, and by quitting I saved my own life. It was very difficult to do, but I do say to those going through that first critical year of abstinence, hang in there. It will get better, and it has for me. I repeat, hang on, it will definitely get better.
No longer do I have the fantastic highs of drinking, but I never have the lows caused through drinking.
Life is now, for me, constant, it is beautiful, it is worth while, and though it was tough in that first year of sobriety, that suffering is behind me now. It is a rare that I have a bad day now, and in the old days of drinking it was rare to have a good day.
I wake up every day now, and have for the past 39 years, happy, knowing in my heart that this is an unusual day, a bonus day! Life is good! I am going to keep it that way for I am not going to drink today, not tomorrow, not ever again.
If you are in your first year of sobriety, hang in there. I made it, and you can!
DON FELSTEAD
Following are quotations from this diary covering two days:
(1) Had an absolutely terrible time at the dentist, was in chair from 9 to 10a.m.. - almost passed out three or four times. Felt nauseous and nervous, and I thought it would never end. This absolutely exhausted me but I dragged myself to Donwood, interacted with residents and staff and felt better. Am writing this at 1 a.m. and feeling ok but must watch all these nauseous feelings - strictly nerves.
(2) Dreamt last night that I drank two bottles of beer on top of the antabuse, awoke very remorseful, but happy to find out I hadn't drank!
(3.) Went to work, had a very bad day, and left at 2.30p.m. Standing at the corner of King and Bay Sts. in Toronto, hating the world, inwardly screaming for a drink to settle me down and take away this awful feeling of despair. A real case of flight syndrome. If I hadn't been full of antabuse I swear I would have gone drinking. It was my deep down fear of the consequences of drinking on top of antabuse that literaly saved my life. Instead, I called a doctor at Donwood and got some valium. Often stagger and felt faint. A dry drunk? Perhaps. At least the pressure was released, without alcohol.
As I look through my diary, I can see now that my biggest problem was nerves, tension and the need for vast quantities of sleep and rest. Many times I was to think "why not pack it in and have a drink. Nothing could be worse than what I am going through".
Not all days were bad, but enough of them were to keep me on edge. I know now that I would have been dead long ago had I continued to drink, and by quitting I saved my own life. It was very difficult to do, but I do say to those going through that first critical year of abstinence, hang in there. It will get better, and it has for me. I repeat, hang on, it will definitely get better.
No longer do I have the fantastic highs of drinking, but I never have the lows caused through drinking.
Life is now, for me, constant, it is beautiful, it is worth while, and though it was tough in that first year of sobriety, that suffering is behind me now. It is a rare that I have a bad day now, and in the old days of drinking it was rare to have a good day.
I wake up every day now, and have for the past 39 years, happy, knowing in my heart that this is an unusual day, a bonus day! Life is good! I am going to keep it that way for I am not going to drink today, not tomorrow, not ever again.
If you are in your first year of sobriety, hang in there. I made it, and you can!
DON FELSTEAD
SUMMERTIME, CRAVE THAT COLD BEER?
It is summer again and "the living is easy". It is the time of year when I used to drink a lot of cold beer.
I can see it now, the back yard, in the shade on a hot sultry day, wrapped around a cold glass of beer. And did it taste good!
Now, had I been able to stop at the first two or three on a Saturday afternoon, I would quite likely be drinking now, for that is called "Social drinking".
To me, then, two or three beers just whetted the appetite, and made room for more, so that, after about 18 bottles of beer, and the best part of a mickey of whiskey, I would call it quits at two in the morning after drinking by myself in the dead of night, landing up dead drunk.
Now I am not going to tell a sad tale of my drinking history, but I mention the foregoing because, even after 39 years of strict sobriety, I still crave a cold beer!
How about you? Do you feel the same? If you do then you can join a club of many thousands of alcoholics that are faced with the same problem.
Having flouted the use of alcohol on the T.V. and radio, and seeing the neighbours enjoying themselves with some cold ones, the booze industry extols you to join the happy crowd. "Drink our alcohol, and have a good time! It all looks great,, and is certainly nice for the 95% of the population that can sit down and have cold one without going ape, and consuming everything in
sight.
If you are a recovering alcoholic and really want to quit, before you take that cold beer, think of what it can lead to: the drunken driving charge, the violent arguments with the wife, the shamed children, the broken home, the lost job, and so on and on.
You can also look around and see, if you want to, the many thousands of people who not drink, because they choose to! The ones who would prefer tea, soft drinks, or coffee. The only difference between you and them is that they don't have to fight the ever present impulse to abuse alcohol. So it puts you in an important category, the person who has guts enough to say no, when your brain is crying out for that drink. Pat yourself on the back every time you turn down a drink, you deserve it, you strong-willed devil!
My wife and I went to a neighbors party some years ago to join them in clelebrating their wedding anniversary.
My neighbor brought out four glasses of a fancy apple cider, with a significant amount of alcohol. I turned down the drink without hesitation, but it looked good and it wouldn't have been too hard to say yes. Surely such a small amount of alcohol couldn't hurt, but could become catostropic as it would trigger my addiction. Fortunately at that time I was taking antabuse, and there was no way I was going to take a chance on a bad reaction. It made the decision not to drink easier!
I reached a point some years ago when I felt confident enough to end taking antabuse. It did help me in many situations where my strength would ebb and temptation would kick in, but I stuck it out, and I have had a wonderful life since!
If you find that you have a difficult time turning down drinks, see your doctor and ask his opinion about the use of antabuse, and good luck.
DON FELSTEAD
I can see it now, the back yard, in the shade on a hot sultry day, wrapped around a cold glass of beer. And did it taste good!
Now, had I been able to stop at the first two or three on a Saturday afternoon, I would quite likely be drinking now, for that is called "Social drinking".
To me, then, two or three beers just whetted the appetite, and made room for more, so that, after about 18 bottles of beer, and the best part of a mickey of whiskey, I would call it quits at two in the morning after drinking by myself in the dead of night, landing up dead drunk.
Now I am not going to tell a sad tale of my drinking history, but I mention the foregoing because, even after 39 years of strict sobriety, I still crave a cold beer!
How about you? Do you feel the same? If you do then you can join a club of many thousands of alcoholics that are faced with the same problem.
Having flouted the use of alcohol on the T.V. and radio, and seeing the neighbours enjoying themselves with some cold ones, the booze industry extols you to join the happy crowd. "Drink our alcohol, and have a good time! It all looks great,, and is certainly nice for the 95% of the population that can sit down and have cold one without going ape, and consuming everything in
sight.
If you are a recovering alcoholic and really want to quit, before you take that cold beer, think of what it can lead to: the drunken driving charge, the violent arguments with the wife, the shamed children, the broken home, the lost job, and so on and on.
You can also look around and see, if you want to, the many thousands of people who not drink, because they choose to! The ones who would prefer tea, soft drinks, or coffee. The only difference between you and them is that they don't have to fight the ever present impulse to abuse alcohol. So it puts you in an important category, the person who has guts enough to say no, when your brain is crying out for that drink. Pat yourself on the back every time you turn down a drink, you deserve it, you strong-willed devil!
My wife and I went to a neighbors party some years ago to join them in clelebrating their wedding anniversary.
My neighbor brought out four glasses of a fancy apple cider, with a significant amount of alcohol. I turned down the drink without hesitation, but it looked good and it wouldn't have been too hard to say yes. Surely such a small amount of alcohol couldn't hurt, but could become catostropic as it would trigger my addiction. Fortunately at that time I was taking antabuse, and there was no way I was going to take a chance on a bad reaction. It made the decision not to drink easier!
I reached a point some years ago when I felt confident enough to end taking antabuse. It did help me in many situations where my strength would ebb and temptation would kick in, but I stuck it out, and I have had a wonderful life since!
If you find that you have a difficult time turning down drinks, see your doctor and ask his opinion about the use of antabuse, and good luck.
DON FELSTEAD
HE'S DEAD NOW BUT
He is dead now but he lives on in my heart.
Bill B. (not his real name) a tiny man, weather beaten by the ravages of alcohol was my sponsor in A.A. through the critical months prior to my getting and staying sober. When he picked me up to take to the Donwood for Alcohol treatment, he told my wife that he didn't think I would make it. I was too far along. How wrong he was! But it perhaps helped me to get my back up and prove him wrong.
This is not about me however, it is about the greatest guy I ever knew. I met him at an AA meeting, we made an immediate connection. He had a checkered life, which led to his consumption of 2 quarts of whiskey daily, and his withdrawal was very difficult, culminating in bugs on the wall, and other delusions. Jack has helped hundreds of alcoholics through AA, and in my eyes he was a saint! What a friend he was.
Jack and I drifted apart, since I was becoming more successful in battling my alcohol addiction. He was off helping others in his own way.
A few months later I heard that he was in hospital, and didn't have too long to live. I went to see him in his room. The first thing I saw as I walked into the room was Jack sitting on the bed with a tube through his mouth down into his stomach, siphoning the blood from a cancerous lesion, dripping into a jar under the bed. A tube was fastened into his arm feeding blood into his body to replace the blood he was losing. It was depressing for me, and as I said goodby to him, I felt that I was seeing him for the last time!
Months went by and I lost sight of Jack. I was so busy fighting my own addiction that there was no time for anyone or anything else. Then I ran into Jack"s doctor, who was also a recovering alcohol addict. He informed me that Jack had recovered and was back counselling alcohol abusers through AA. It appears that Jack had prayed to his "Higher Power" to give him more time to give to his work. Following this he got better!
His Doctor told me that it was indeed a miracle! There was no other explanation for it, and I concurred because definitely Jack was on his death bed. I will never question God or the forces of good again.
DON FELSTEAD
Bill B. (not his real name) a tiny man, weather beaten by the ravages of alcohol was my sponsor in A.A. through the critical months prior to my getting and staying sober. When he picked me up to take to the Donwood for Alcohol treatment, he told my wife that he didn't think I would make it. I was too far along. How wrong he was! But it perhaps helped me to get my back up and prove him wrong.
This is not about me however, it is about the greatest guy I ever knew. I met him at an AA meeting, we made an immediate connection. He had a checkered life, which led to his consumption of 2 quarts of whiskey daily, and his withdrawal was very difficult, culminating in bugs on the wall, and other delusions. Jack has helped hundreds of alcoholics through AA, and in my eyes he was a saint! What a friend he was.
Jack and I drifted apart, since I was becoming more successful in battling my alcohol addiction. He was off helping others in his own way.
A few months later I heard that he was in hospital, and didn't have too long to live. I went to see him in his room. The first thing I saw as I walked into the room was Jack sitting on the bed with a tube through his mouth down into his stomach, siphoning the blood from a cancerous lesion, dripping into a jar under the bed. A tube was fastened into his arm feeding blood into his body to replace the blood he was losing. It was depressing for me, and as I said goodby to him, I felt that I was seeing him for the last time!
Months went by and I lost sight of Jack. I was so busy fighting my own addiction that there was no time for anyone or anything else. Then I ran into Jack"s doctor, who was also a recovering alcohol addict. He informed me that Jack had recovered and was back counselling alcohol abusers through AA. It appears that Jack had prayed to his "Higher Power" to give him more time to give to his work. Following this he got better!
His Doctor told me that it was indeed a miracle! There was no other explanation for it, and I concurred because definitely Jack was on his death bed. I will never question God or the forces of good again.
DON FELSTEAD
Saturday, July 12, 2008
I HEAR THE BIRDS NOW!!!
When I left the Donwood, I was shaky, raw and full of fear. I knew that this was my last chance at a proper life. I was on the brink, one more drink and I would sink into the morass of alcoholism, a complete loss of will, and a complete inability to cope with life without alcohol..
It was during this time that I attended an AA meeting in downtown Toronto at a place I cannot even remember now, except that it was a dingy church hall. There was at least 100 men there, of all shapes and sizes, all bound by that tragic brotherhood of the alcoholic. Coffee and cigarettes were the only stimulants there. There were young and old, poor and prosperous. We were all bound by the same affliction, the inability to cope with life without alcohol.
A little old man got up to speak. He was grizzly, needed a shave, and one could see the cigarette shaking in his old hands. He told us how he had been around the city for years, living on the streets, doing small jobs to support his habits.
In a quivering voice he told of a miracle that he had experienced that very morning! He had the birds! He related that during the former years he had never heard the birds in the mornings. They were a beautiful sound that he reveled in. It reminded him of his youth when he was married and had children and a decent job. But with his abuse of alcohol, he began to lose everything, wife, children, home, and even the little things in life such as hearing the birds.
He had a radiance in his face that came through the leathery skin of his old body. It was not too late! He had heard the birds!
With a shock I suddenly realized that I had not heard the birds for years, and suddenly after a few months of sobriety I awoke one morning to hear them.
It is a phenomina that in the throes of drinking one blocks out all outward signs of living. The love of family, the feeling of accomplishment at the job, the noise of children, the beauty of a sunrise. There are many other wonderful things in life to enjoy, but it must be done without alcohol because it take over your life and dominates your thinking.
My fear of alcohol fueled my determination that I would beat it, and I did. I just passed my 39th anniversary of quitting drinking. Am I proud of myself? You bet! I love life, at at 75 years of age I am bound to go to the end sober.
AND I HEAR THE BIRDS EVERY DAY!
It was during this time that I attended an AA meeting in downtown Toronto at a place I cannot even remember now, except that it was a dingy church hall. There was at least 100 men there, of all shapes and sizes, all bound by that tragic brotherhood of the alcoholic. Coffee and cigarettes were the only stimulants there. There were young and old, poor and prosperous. We were all bound by the same affliction, the inability to cope with life without alcohol.
A little old man got up to speak. He was grizzly, needed a shave, and one could see the cigarette shaking in his old hands. He told us how he had been around the city for years, living on the streets, doing small jobs to support his habits.
In a quivering voice he told of a miracle that he had experienced that very morning! He had the birds! He related that during the former years he had never heard the birds in the mornings. They were a beautiful sound that he reveled in. It reminded him of his youth when he was married and had children and a decent job. But with his abuse of alcohol, he began to lose everything, wife, children, home, and even the little things in life such as hearing the birds.
He had a radiance in his face that came through the leathery skin of his old body. It was not too late! He had heard the birds!
With a shock I suddenly realized that I had not heard the birds for years, and suddenly after a few months of sobriety I awoke one morning to hear them.
It is a phenomina that in the throes of drinking one blocks out all outward signs of living. The love of family, the feeling of accomplishment at the job, the noise of children, the beauty of a sunrise. There are many other wonderful things in life to enjoy, but it must be done without alcohol because it take over your life and dominates your thinking.
My fear of alcohol fueled my determination that I would beat it, and I did. I just passed my 39th anniversary of quitting drinking. Am I proud of myself? You bet! I love life, at at 75 years of age I am bound to go to the end sober.
AND I HEAR THE BIRDS EVERY DAY!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
BE THE BEST OF WHATEVER YOU ARE
We all dream of great deeds and high positions, away from the pettiness and humdrum of ordinary life. Yet success is not occupying a lofty place or doing conspicuous work, it is being the berst that is in you.
Rattling around in too big a job is worse than filling a small one to overflowing. Dream, aspire by all means; but do not ruin the life you must lead by dreaming pipe dreams of the one you would like to lead.
Make the most of what you have and are. Perhaps your trivial, immediate task is your one sure way of proving your mettle. Do the thing near at hand, and great things will come to your hand to be done.
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley - but be The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if y0u can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass, And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew, There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do, And the task you must do is the near
. If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be a sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail -
But be the best of whatever you are!
DOUGLAS MALLOCH
Don says: During my drinking years I strived to do the most, make the most money, be the best in my office, have the best house, the best wife and the best kids. Was I ever fooling myself!
Beside putting undue pressures on me to keep up and be ahead of the Jones's, I found the alcohol gave me the illusion that I could do all this. I now know that I was only fooling myself. Increasingly I leaned on alcohol to keep up the pressure to go on. My family suffered and my work deteriorated as a result.
Since I quit drinking I have maintained a lower profile, and instead of being the biggest fish in a big pond, I found comfort as a small fish in a little pond. When I realized that I was not as smart as I thought I was, I relaxed and took life as it came instead of trying to control everything. I feel good now!!!!!
Rattling around in too big a job is worse than filling a small one to overflowing. Dream, aspire by all means; but do not ruin the life you must lead by dreaming pipe dreams of the one you would like to lead.
Make the most of what you have and are. Perhaps your trivial, immediate task is your one sure way of proving your mettle. Do the thing near at hand, and great things will come to your hand to be done.
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley - but be The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if y0u can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass, And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew, There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do, And the task you must do is the near
. If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be a sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail -
But be the best of whatever you are!
DOUGLAS MALLOCH
Don says: During my drinking years I strived to do the most, make the most money, be the best in my office, have the best house, the best wife and the best kids. Was I ever fooling myself!
Beside putting undue pressures on me to keep up and be ahead of the Jones's, I found the alcohol gave me the illusion that I could do all this. I now know that I was only fooling myself. Increasingly I leaned on alcohol to keep up the pressure to go on. My family suffered and my work deteriorated as a result.
Since I quit drinking I have maintained a lower profile, and instead of being the biggest fish in a big pond, I found comfort as a small fish in a little pond. When I realized that I was not as smart as I thought I was, I relaxed and took life as it came instead of trying to control everything. I feel good now!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)