Ionce had a psychology professor walk around the classroom holding up a glass full of water. When he finally addressed the class, I was expecting him to ask the typical question, “Is the glass half empty or glass half full?” Instead, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?” After many guesses, he replied, “Actually, the weight of this glass doesn’t matter, how long I hold it determines how heavy it is. If just for a minute or two, or even an hour, it’s manageable. But after several hour or days, it would become uncomfortable and begin to hurt.

I was reminded of this by Hypnotherapist Maia Rizzi as she described the many hurts and painful experiences we hold on to consciously and subconsciously. Over the past six months I have indulged in weekly hypnotherapy sessions that have led to small, but amazing changes. In our attempt to deal with emotional or physical pain, as well as stresses and worries, we don’t always make the most effective choices.

While a substance addiction (anything from alcohol to food) might not be part of your experience, some other addiction might be, such as anger, attention, victimhood or guilt. Every single one of us has developed patterns in our lives to avoid hurt and soothe ourselves.

This month’s focus on addiction reminds us of the many choices we do have. As Louise Hay expresses so well, “No person, no place and no thing has any power over us, for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace, harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.”

Our story “Rethinking Recovery” opens our minds to a holistic approach to healing addiction with variety of complementary healing tools to treat the mental, physical and spiritual disease. Rebecca Thomas and Gerald Perillo III recently opened Discovering the Solution, a holistic outpatient recovery center in Fort Walton Beach, with a positive philosophy that begins by looking for whatever brought the individual to this point in their life. Read more about their program in our Community Spotlight this month.

Moving your life forward, no matter what, takes tremendous courage, from walking into your first AA meeting to being brutally honest with a therapist. If we can be honest, open-minded and willing, removing those heavy burdens towards, healing and recovery can be discovered by all.

Happy Father’s Day!

Scott & Daralyn