This is a favorite poem of ours. It is about the importance of the journey rather than the destination. We hope that your journey has been and continues to be an interesting one, not one of sitting in your recliner with a bottle, as is so often the case with people who have problems with alcohol.

Ithaca

by Constantine P. Cavafy.

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops, the angry Poseidon — do not fear them: You will never find such as these on your path, if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine emotion touches your spirit and your body.

The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops, the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter, if you do not carry them within your soul, if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long. That the summer mornings are many, when, with such pleasure, with such joy you will enter ports seen for the first time; stop at Phoenician markets, and purchase fine merchandise, mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony, and sensual perfumes of all kinds, as many sensual perfumes as you can; visit many Egyptian cities, to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind. To arrive there is your ultimate goal. But do not hurry the voyage at all. It is better to let it last for many years; and to anchor at the island when you are old, rich with all you have gained on the way, not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage. Without her you would have never set out on the road. She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you. Wise as you have become, with so much experience, you must already have understood what these Ithacas mean.

Procrastination

A recent article in Psychology Today talks about procrastination, or what we’ve sometimes referred to as living in “contemplation hell.” We all want the result, but few of us are prepared to do the things now that will result in a much better life in six months or a year.

One of the reasons we get into trouble with alcohol is that we’d rather medicate our current discomforts and get immediate – if very temporary – relief rather than do what’s needed to eliminate the cause of the discomfort.

So we put off doing anything about our drinking beyond researching possible solutions. That fits with Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change model that notes that people tend to stay stuck in the “Contemplation” stage even after we become aware that we really do have a problem.

Of course staying stuck also gets a big boost when the alternative – traditional AA/12 Step based treatment – is so obviously, demeaning, degrading, expensive, and ineffectual. Who wouldn’t keep right on procrastinating?

What else is new?

What’s new is the fact that options do exist to “rehab” and all of the justifiably negative connotations that brings up.

Options include what we offer: confidential, effective, and research based solutions which are efficient in both time and cost, and that have a success rate ten to twenty times that of the usual “powerless,” “disease,” and myth based programs.

Your part?

All it takes is a bit of action on your part – and the belief that your life can be better, and that making that happen can be interesting and exciting, not awful.

And that is the reality. It can start with a phone call to discuss your situation and what the options may be.

You’ve got nothing to lose, and as lot to gain, by starting out on your own personal road to Ithaca. Let us help.

This Week’s Quote:

I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now. ~ Henry David Thoreau

In our opinion and experience, drinking your way through life is traveling in the worst level of steerage. Don’t you too deserve to see the moonlight and the mountains?

Really, simply because you’ve been washed overboard more than once is no reason hide below decks for the rest of your life.

Don’t forget, you’re welcome to download all of our freebies – the Cost Benefit Analysis tool; Long Term Goal Planner; and Weekly Planner at:

Resources For You!

And please, for information or just to talk, one of us answers the phone personally from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, Monday – Thursday, unless we are with clients, or from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
If we don’t answer, leave your name and number and one of us will usually be able to get back to you within an hour.

Toll Free From the Lower 48 or Canada: 888-541-6350

In Los Angeles, or from Alaska: 760-580-5758