I've given away two copies already, and this week I'll draw a name at random for copy number three. But I have decided not to give away the fourth copy on my blog. Instead, I am going do what my friend Ron Grover--a fellow Partnership at Drugfree.org National Parent Partner and author of the terrific blog "An Addict in Our Son's Bedroom"--did with his extra copy of the book: I am going to donate it to my local library.
I live in a community that, for the most part, likes to pretend it doesn't have a drug problem. Unfortunately, I know differently. My son was a part of this community and walked just a few blocks from our house, across the Detroit border, to buy his heroin. He bought pot from someone in our community. And when he first started using drugs he told my wife and me that he could buy any drug he wanted from kids at school.
Just because people in my community don't want to acknowledge or talk about our drug problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So maybe my last copy of Beyond Addiction will be able to help a parent who is experiencing something they feel they have no one to talk to about. Maybe someone who has a loved one struggling with drug or alcohol abuse will go to the library looking for help and actually be able to find some.
In any case, this week's drawing--which will take place on Sunday evening--will be the last chance you have to win a copy of Beyond Addiction on my blog. If you want to put your name in the hat, send me an email through my blog using the "Contact Form" that appears in the column on the right-hand side of my blog (between the "Most Popular Posts" and "Blogs I Follow" sections). If you entered any of the previous drawings, you are already entered for the final drawing; but you can get a "bonus" entry by emailing me again.
Thanks to everyone who has participated; to the Center for Motivation and Change for donating the books; and to Ron Grover for the idea of giving a copy of the book to my local library.
I will wrap up this blog post with a couple of lists from Beyond Addiction. Both of these appear in the book's introduction, which is entitled "Hope in Hell."
Ten Evidence-Based Reasons to Have Hope
1. You can help.
2. Helping yourself helps.
3. Your loved one isn't crazy.
4. The world isn't black-and-white.
5. Labels do more harm than good.
6. Different people need different options.
7. Treatment isn't the be-all and end-all.
8. Ambivalence is normal.
9. People can be helped at anytime.
10. Life is a series of experiments.
And, finally, what I consider to be a great list for anyone, whether you have a loved one with a substance abuse problem or not. In fact, I printed out a copy of this list and stuck it in my wallet:
Things You Can Change
How comfortable you are right now
How optimistic you are in general
What behaviors you encourage
How much you argue
How often you smile
How much you sleep
How strong you feel
Your habitual reactions
Your tone of voice
What you pay attention to
Your point of view
The atmosphere in your home
How isolated you feel
How you deal with stress
How much you worry
Your heart rate
How you spend your money
How you express concern
What substances you use
How you help
How you get help
What kind of help you get
The first thing you do when you wake up in the morning
Whether anything good happens today
How much you enjoy life
That last one is a doozy. I suggest we all remember it.
Peace.
"We're optimistic because the evidence supports many ways to help, and we're optimistic because there's plenty of evidence that optimism helps. People don't try what they don't think they can do. This book is about what you can do." --From the introduction of Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Can Help People Change
(Note: Excerpts from Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change are Copyright © 2014 by Psychological Motivation and Change Group, PLLC. All rights reserved.)
It is a good thing your are doing, Dean.
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