growing up beside you

image credit ... last.fm

if anyone has been following this blog for a length of time, you will know i have developed a passion for paolo nutini. i am not sure what it is, but i know i love his voice, his music, and his aura. so this weekend i think i'll pull out the cds and revisit the treasure.

i am having coffee with an old friend this weekend as well. we have been trying to work together on a project, but it just hasn't come to fruition. doesn't mean i won't keep trying. life goes on and i work to run beside it. i am finding that i may just need to work a little harder to stay in the race.

dr. allen berger lays out 12 smart things to do when the booze and drugs are gone in his book of the same name. i thought i'd lay them out here as a sort of mantra. i find that with some clean time under my belt, the onset of emotional sobriety is the new frontier.

here are dr. berger's thoughts.
1)  know yourself- and how to stay centered.
2)  stop allowing others to edit your reality.
3)  stop taking things personally.
4)  own your projections as an act of integrity.
5)  confront yourself for the sake of your integrity.
6)  stop pressuring others to change and instead pressure yourself to change.
7)  develop a healthy perspective toward yourself, your feelings, and your emotional themes.
8)  appreciate what is.
9)  comfort yourself when you are hurt or disappointed.
10) use your personal compass to guide your life
11) embrace relationship tensions as the fuel for personal growth
12) the "problem" is not the real problem"