{"id":6182,"date":"2014-03-04T22:28:21","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T03:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?p=6182"},"modified":"2014-03-04T22:28:21","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T03:28:21","slug":"poison-ivy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2014\/03\/poison-ivy.html","title":{"rendered":"Poison Ivy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"poisonivy\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

One of my clients in the outpatient drug and alcohol counseling center where I work with folks in recovery had a brilliant analogy that he shared. As someone with a long term addiction, he thought he could manage it\u00a0by ‘controlling’ his drinking until he realized it was controlling him. It was when he saw that he had much to lose by allowing the alcohol to run and ruin his life and that he had much to gain by maintaining sobriety, that he put down the bottle.<\/p>\n

He is also an avid gardener\u00a0who used a horticultural metaphor as he described the recovery process. He shared that for many years, each summer, he would be afflicted by poison ivy. It occurred to him that he needed to do two things to prevent the red, itchy rash from covering his hands.<\/p>\n

1. Wear gloves.<\/p>\n

2. Be aware of what the plant looks like and steer clear of it.<\/p>\n

A knowing smile broke out on the faces of the others in the weekly support group I facilitate since they saw the connection immediately to their own addiction and recovery process. Protecting themselves by steering clear of the proverbial ‘people, places and things’ that sometimes suck them into the vortex of substance abuse, is necessary. It was when he began to take conscious concrete steps to prevent ‘poisoning his soul’ with alcohol that all aspects of his ‘garden’ began to thrive.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/ZRfRITVdz4k0<\/a>\u00a0Poison Ivy by The Coasters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my clients in the outpatient drug and alcohol counseling center where I work with folks in recovery had a brilliant analogy that he shared. As someone with a long term addiction, he thought he could manage it\u00a0by ‘controlling’ his drinking until he realized it was controlling him. It was when he saw that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[602,2,13,19,22,4,51],"tags":[4888,3683,4871,3684],"class_list":["post-6182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction","category-bliss","category-blissfull-thinking","category-empowerment","category-healing","category-inspiration","category-mental-health","tag-addiction","tag-poison-ivy","tag-recovery","tag-the-coasters"],"yoast_head":"\nPoison Ivy - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2014\/03\/poison-ivy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poison Ivy - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of my clients in the outpatient drug and alcohol counseling center where I work with folks in recovery had a brilliant analogy that he shared. 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She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. 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